RIP Pandemic Studios. EA shuts down the studio

Wow Gamespot really puts it in weirdly

Pandemic's closure is cruelly ironic, since the past two years has seen one half of the former "superdeveloper", BioWare, increase its influence inside EA by taking over the publisher's other role-playing game studios. The Edmonton, Alberta-based shop just released Dragon Age: Origins, 2009's best-reviewed RPG, and is readying two other high-profile titles, Mass Effect 2 and Star Wars: The Old Republic, for a 2010 launch.

EA has a history of acquiring hit developers, only to close them down at a later date. Most famously, the publisher picked up Command & Conquer developer Westwood Studios in 1998, only to shutter it in 2003 after the disappointing debut of its sci-fi role-playing game Earth & Beyond. In 1992, it acquired Ultima developer Origin systems, which it closed down in 2004 following disappointing sales of Ultima IX.
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I love EA and their choice of pursuing new IPs but I wonder when this cycle will stop. I hope they do release a demo of the Saboteur. It looks interesting.
 
>_____> Just wow. They paid a billion dollars to get Pandemic/BioWare and now they shut half of the company down after a couple years? This is why EA still sucks.
 
EA's been posting loss after loss, something had to give (by which I mean some 1500 jobs have to give). I don't think EA bought Pandemic with a malevolent desire to bury them, but they've come to a point where they need to restructure and start making money again or all of their studios will be shut down. The fact of the matter is that games like Dead Space and Mirror's edge, loved by critics and those who took a chance on buying said games, just don't bring in the dough that yearly Madden's do. And when some games are earning money and others are losing it, there's only so many options they can take.

Having said that, this kind of sucks. I liked Pandemic, despite their terrible Lord of the Rings game. I mean, that game was really, really bad.
 
Starrynite said:
Wow Gamespot really puts it in weirdly

I love EA and their choice of pursuing new IPs but I wonder when this cycle will stop. I hope they do release a demo of the Saboteur. It looks interesting.
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I thought EA purchased WestWood Studios in the early 2000's... they bought them as early as 1998?

that's strange...

stealth toilet said:
EA's been posting loss after loss, something had to give (by which I mean some 1500 jobs have to give). I don't think EA bought Pandemic with a malevolent desire to bury them, but they've come to a point where they need to restructure and start making money again or all of their studios will be shut down. The fact of the matter is that games like Dead Space and Mirror's edge, loved by critics and those who took a chance on buying said games, just don't bring in the dough that yearly Madden's do. And when some games are earning money and others are losing it, there's only so many options they can take.

Having said that, this kind of sucks. I liked Pandemic, despite their terrible Lord of the Rings game. I mean, that game was really, really bad.
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Honestly, it's amazing to me that EA could lose money with as many IP's as they bought. They should seriously be ripping the scene up...
BUT I have to agree with Cherry... this is why EA sucks. They either need to restructure or get out of the scene.

†B†V† :hat
 
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