Oops. Yep. And in a bit of a coincidence EA used to have the LOTR liscence and those titles were made by Visceral Games.

I'm still visiting the graveyard and put some flowers down where Bullfrog lies.

This sounds like what happened to Stigs team when Sony let them ago. You would think after 2 years they would have had something to show. 2019 release date would mean 4-4.5 years of development.

Anyone know who was directing the game?

Uuu, a little love for Future Cop LAPD...respect.

Does this decision sound like self-sabotage?

Weird news. This would is normally expected if a studio flops/screws a big game (Driveclub, Sim City, Prototype 1/2), but their last game was quite successful.

Hell no.... thats sad. I guess Dead Space is finished aswell. I cant see another brand taking on the reins and driving it forward.
Dead Space was one of my favorite franchises

We should start a sweepstake for when EA will close Bioware. Since ME:A wasn't up to par, we've heard nothing about the Dragon Age teams workings and if Anthem isn't a success and doesn't stop Destiny, then you think they are going to keep them around? They'll either give them a licenced product to make and then close them 6 months later or just give in and make just sports since and Star Wars games with loot boxes for the rest of time, at least those make money.

It seems EA is trying really hard to reclaim their "worst company" title.

No there's little doubt Dead Space and Dead Space 2 made profit.  But they didn't want *profit*.  They wanted a cross-medium super hit with movies and comic books and massive blockbuster video games.  Dead Space 1 and 2 got enough sales to sustain them considering the production values.  

But of course, a horror game didn't turn out to be the biggest thing in media since the invention of film so EA had them make Dead Space 3 with a host of apparently corporate mandated nonsense designed to shove in microtransactions and burdened it with selling 5 million copies.  Basically, after Dead Space 2 EA didn't want them doing what they were *good* at.  They shoved them into making what EA *wanted*.  And when what EA wanted turned out to be mediocre garbage, well this is where it goes.

The pattern of behavior is so transparent as to be cartoon-villain-esque.  And the only word we have on this "not up to scratch" nonsense is EA.  Who tellingly don't even say that.  They basically say, "it's a linear story driven game, we don't want that."  Probably because they want a pseudo-sandbox online shooter with lootboxes cause they are once again envying other companies' money and wanting THAT instead of focusing on what they HAVE.  Cause that's what EA does, they chase whatever goldrush they see real or immagined and damn the consequences.  Like when Medal of Honor was turned into a series of blatant CoD ripoffs in a desparate attempt to take CoD's marekt, all mediocre, all souless, all disappointing.  And the end result was the studio behind the franchise was closed.  

Maxis
Mythic
Bullfrog
Origin
Westwood
Dreamworks Interactive/Danger Close
Phenomic
Black Box Games
Pandemic
Visceral

And on and on.  EA is a company that buys or builds studios, let's them do their thing temporarily, and then beats them into submission, forcing them to toe their BS company line and when their crappy ideas don't result in untold riches or when media backlash grows to loud, the studio is sent to the alter to be the sacrifice for EA's actions.  

Developers aren't perfect.  But EA is a destroyer of studios, has been for ages.  And I highly doubt this Visceral situation is any different at all.  They were allowed to do what they were good at and were successful.  Then EA started EAing it up with Dead Space 3, forced them to march lockstep with EA's policies and later play a part in their failed attempt to make Battlefield an anualized megaseries to take on CoD, and when these idiotic ideas failed to make EA the god king of space, it was Visceral's head.