Pandemic Studios to Continue For Branding Purposes Only
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"Today we informed employees at Pandemic that development on all the Pandemic franchises is being consolidated at EALA. As a result, we are eliminating roughly 200 positions at Pandemic," said Brown. "That said, EA is very committed to the Pandemic brand, and a core team of Pandemic developers will be developing existing franchises and other projects at EALA."
Brown also confirmed that among those departing are Pandemic founders Josh Resnick, Andrew Goldman, and Greg Borrud. He would not confirm the specific number of layoffs, but the Pandemic site lists its headcount at 200 people--a number Brown said was inaccurate. The remaining Pandemic staffers will report to EALA head Sean Decker.
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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.
The only good news to come out of this is that EA has hired on Might and Magic creator Jon Van Caneghem, though he won't be contributing to any role-playing games anytime soon:
It's also noted that Might and Magic creator Jon Van Caneghem, who recently "transitioned out" of his role as president of Trion World Networks, has joined EA to lead the Command and Conquer brand with "a new digital model that is going to re-ignite the fan base for this franchise."
