Army of Two: Devil's Cartel team 'struggled with a negative trajectory of morale'

Army of Two: Devil's Cartel team 'struggled with a negative trajectory of morale'



Visceral Games Montreal battled with a "negative trajectory of morale" during the development of last year's Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel, leading inevitably to an "underwhelming production", the game's executive producer has revealed.

Commenting on The Devil Cartel's development on his LinkedIn profile, executive producer Julian Beak stated that he was "recruited late in development to nurture the team at Visceral Games Montreal to deliver a struggling product in very little time," and that he successfully "reversed negative trajectory of team's morale."

Beak also says that he "rebuilt confidence and a trustworthy culture through hard work and the frequent celebration of success," and that he "modeled and coached honesty, tenacity and commitment at all levels."

However, he believes that "the team's new high standard of proficiency was applied too late and the predictable result was an underwhelming production."

Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel released to below average scores last March, scoring a Metacritic rating of 54 and 58 on Xbox 360 and PS3 respectively.

However, the critical feedback may have been the least of the team's worries. The studio was reported to have been closed and the team let go in February 2013, just one month prior to The Devil's Cartel's release.