Jade Raymond joins EA, opens Motive Studios

Assassin’s Creed producer Jade Raymond has joined Electronic Arts and is leading Motive, a new EA development studio based in Montreal, Canada, as well as overseeing Visceral Games in California.

Motive Studios will be a “creative-driven” team “incubating entirely new IP and taking on some amazing projects.” Its first project will be Visceral and Amy Hennig’s upcoming Star Wars game. Motive will also work “in close quarters” with BioWare.

Find Jade Raymond’s full statement below, via the Motive Studios website:

The Motive.

I love making games. I got my first job in the industry 20 years ago and am just as excited by the potential of games as I was on my very first day. There is no recipe for what a game should be and the only limit is the team’s imagination. The endless possibilities, the talented people I get to work with and the passion that gamers add to make each game their own is what motivates me. Everyone in this industry has a motive, an idea they want to bring to life, a new idea they’d like to see in a game. It’s what’s so great about this industry. And it’s what I want to get back to.

I love change and challenge, and the time is right to try something entirely new.

I’m happy to announce that I’m joining Electronic Arts and opening Motive, a new development studio in my home town of Montreal, Canada.

The Means.

I cannot think of a more exciting time to be a part of EA than right now. In the first conversations I had with Patrick Söderlund, we talked about the games we love and the opportunities we saw for the future. We talked about how EA wants to deliver more innovative experiences and more of what players are asking for. It’s energizing to see EA today bringing more passion than ever to the games they make, and passion to getting it right for players.

Motive will work in close quarters with the BioWare team. Yanick Roy and the BioWare Montreal team are doing some new and exciting things with Mass Effect: Andromeda and it’s clear that there is already so much talent to collaborate with on site. And as a player of the latest Battlefield and Dragon Age games, I have experienced what the Frostbite engine can do; and I can’t wait to get my hands on it and see what a new team can create!

The Opportunity.

We will be building Motive in Montreal, and together we will shape and evolve the culture we want to develop incredible action experiences.

Motive will be a creative-driven team, incubating entirely new IP and taking on some amazing projects. The first one is going to be really exciting – we’re going to work on Amy Hennig’s Star Wars game!

In addition to building the new Motive Studio in Montreal, I will also oversee the Visceral studio in California. I’m a huge fan of the games that have come out of Visceral and I feel honoured to be working with such a talented team led by studio GM Scott Probst. I’ve also known Amy for years and have admired her work on the Uncharted games! I’m thrilled that the first big project that we will work on in Montreal will have Amy as Creative Director. An opportunity to work with her and the Visceral team, and to play in the Star Wars universe, is once-in-a-lifetime stuff.

Getting back to what I love about making games, creating a new studio, working alongside world-class developers, ideating new IP and being a part of Star Wars…this is going to be fun!

Motive Means Opportunity.

If you’re interested in joining me and the new Motive studio on this journey, email [email protected].