Dead Space Developer Working on Free-to-Play MOBA?

Visceral Games, best known for the Dead Space series, seems to have started development on a free-to-play strategy game for PC. The developer recently opened a Play4Free division, but EA has been quiet about what the studio's projects entailed. Now it's is hiring multiple positions for a PC action project that demands applicants have past experience and an obsession with multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) games.

Visceral Play4Free first posted a position for a Global Community Manager that specifically requires an “unhealthy passion for MOBA games” as a qualification.

Shortly afterward, Visceral opened a Game Designer job asking for a designer with “work experience on MOBA, Action RTS” titles as well as “knowledge of the competitive space.” Visceral is also presently seeking a Lead Multiplayer Map Designer with “deep knowledge of multiplayer gaming…[and] the action/shooter game genre,” and a Character Concept Artist for an “upcoming PC action title.”

If these building blocks are connected, it would appear the Dead Space developer is crafting a free-to-play MOBA for PC with competitive shooter elements within a Play4Free studio inside Visceral. EA's Play4Free brand gave way to titles such as Battlefield Play4Free, Battlefield Heroes, Command & Conquer: Tiberium Alliances, and Need for Speed World.

Could this be a Dead Space spinoff with competitive strategy in its DNA? Would EA hand Visceral license to expand the Mass Effect or Battlefield series to a new genre? Or could Visceral be building an entirely new franchise for competitive league play?

We’ve reached out to EA for comment, so leave your conspiracy theories in the comments below while we wait.

Mitch Dyer is an Associate Editor for IGN's Xbox 360 team. He’s also quite Canadian. Read his ramblings on Twitter and follow him on IGN.

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