Evidence is mounting that well-known serial killer Jack the Ripper is to star in a new game from Dead Space and Dante's Inferno maker Visceral Games--an Electronic Arts-owned studio dedicated to "creating intense action-oriented intellectual properties."

Superannuation notes that Electronic Arts recently filed for film and game-related trademarks on "The Ripper." This led to the discovery of an overlooked LA Times report which claimed, via "sources," that Visceral was helming a Jack the Ripper game.

Electronic Arts has yet to comment on the matter. We'll keep you updated.

A sequel to Visceral Games' original horror game Dead Space is entering production in the coming months, according to a job listing noticed by superannuation.

"The game is in the later stages of pre-production, ready for production in the next few months, with many of the navigational and combat mechanics in place," reads the listing.

Though Dead Space's initial retail performance didn't overjoy EA, the game eventually passed the one million sales mark. EA CEO John Riccitiello referred to the franchise as a "long-term big winner for us" in December 2008.

The job listing notes that the team working on Dead Space 2 has "complete autonomy and creative control" over its decisions, and that the "Games Label at EA is 100% committed to this IP, and has already worked on IP extensions such as comic, animated features, and action figures."

Publisher Activision has hired Dead Space veterans Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey away from EA, with the duo set to lead a new studio in the San Francisco Bay Area that's been tasked with a creating a new game based in an existing Activision franchise.

Schofield had served as executive producer on Dead Space at Visceral Games, formerly known as EA Redwood Shores, and was acting as vice president and general manager of the studio. Condrey, meanwhile, was the studio's COO. The developer's work on Dead Space Extraction and Dante's Inferno is said to be unaffected by the staff changes.

Word of the departures first emerged via GameSpot, with EA and Activision later confirming the news to various sites, including VG247 and IndustryGamers.

Electronic Arts today announced that it has changed the name of development studio EA Redwood Shores to Visceral Games.

Redwood Shores is responsible for the recent horror title Dead Space, as well as the upcoming literary, tit-filled action title Dante's Inferno.

"Action, intensity, excellence. It isn't just in our DNA, it's in our blood," said Visceral Games VP Glen Schofield, who elaborated on his company's dedication to viscera in a press release dripping with carnage.

"For the past two years, we have adopted a new culture that prizes excellence above all else," he added, brutally. "Primal action is the beating heart of the studio and now our new name reflects that."

One can only point out the definitions of visceral, as copied from Webster's: "felt in or as if in the viscera; not intellectual; dealing with crude or elemental emotions." Yes, EA has perhaps found the perfect name for a videogame studio.