EA Partners With Vicarious Visions Founders On Next Franchise

EA has announced a deal with Velan Studios, the new startup from Vicarious Visions founders Guha and Karthik Bala. The EA Partners label will publish Velan's first original franchise, which will appear on PC, consoles, and mobile devices.

The announcement didn't detail Velan's first project but did drop one intriguing clue. It mentions a new kind of "team-based action," which suggests it will be a multiplayer title.

Velan has announced plans to add 40 new jobs to prepare for creating the new IP, which is double its current team size. The studio has raised $7 million in capital since being founded in 2016. While at Vicarious Visions, the Bala brothers oversaw the development of series like Guitar Hero and Skylanders. Velan's talent pool includes veterans from games including Super Mario Maker, Uncharted, and Metroid Prime.

"We started Velan Studios to make community-centered play experiences that are daring and distinctive from what’s being played today," said Guha Bala in the announcement. "We can't wait to share the details of our first original game in the future."