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[MirageDwarf]

Damn thats alot of jobs how big is EA

Big enough that puts it in red even though sales are good.

 

[sflufan]

I don't like the sound of that.

It means that they're going modern with the series.

 

[sloppyjoe_gamer]

It means that they're going modern warfare with the series.

Fixed.

 

[gregor7777]

High risk. Long development cycles with large teams. The second Bioware goes out of fashion -- it has a bomb, or a cancelled game -- you go straight from "profitable" to "huge losses."

Bioware going out of fashion is a hell of a reach. They're one of these studios that has survived a huge amount of changes in this industry over the last 15 years, and all the while have been pumping out critically acclaimed and big selling games.

They're one of the safest bets in the industry IMO.

 

[Vinci]

Fixed.

It means that they're going modern warfare with the series, by setting it in the modern world, removing dedicated server support, and launching it with a monthly subscription.

C'mon, man. Be thorough.

 

[SapientWolf]

Fuck all of you, Mercenaries 2 was a good game. :|

I enjoyed it for what it was. I paid $10 for it and I feel I got my money's worth. But for every step forward (co-op, pretty explosions) it took a step back (bugs, dated graphics, odd design decisions). Mercs 1 was a much better release for its time, but, side by side, I think post-patch Mercs 2 is just as good. But it had the potential to be so much more.

I'm kind of sad to see them go. A fully realized Mercs 3 on Cryengine 3 would have been amazing.

 

[LiK]

update from Gamespot: Saboteur release unaffected.

 

[Khrno]

If there's anyone worried about the rumors being true and the future of The Saboteur, there's no need to worry, the game is on schedule for the december release, and unless there is a very bad problem on the 1.02 version, then there should be no delay at all.

 

[Why For?]

Hope Saboteur still gets released. Game looks good.

 

[Vinci]

Bioware going out of fashion is a hell of a reach. They're one of these studios that has survived a huge amount of changes in this industry over the last 15 years, and all the while have been pumping out critically acclaimed and big selling games.

They're one of the safest bets in the industry IMO.

I thought the same thing: Shouldn't they have gone out of fashion by now if they were going to?

 

[element]

Hope Saboteur still gets released. Game looks good.

the game is done. that is why they are doing this now. the street date is December 8th. the game is out of certification and probably being printed now and then shipped to distribution in the next 10 days.

 

[adg1034]

Interplay going out of fashion is a hell of a reach. They're one of these studios that has survived a huge amount of changes in this industry over the last 15 years, and all the while have been pumping out critically acclaimed and big selling games.

They're one of the safest bets in the industry IMO.

Spoiler

As much as I agree with you on Bioware's future, I can't help but imagine too many doomsday scenarios for them.

 

[Vinci]

Spoiler

As much as I agree with you on Bioware's future, I can't help but imagine too many doomsday scenarios for them.

Pretty much, Old Republic is going to be the biggest potential failure for them. And it's a stretch to imagine it outright failing.

 

[Linkup]

They should at least wait until the game is out, who knows could be that off chance hit.

 

[element]

They should at least wait until the game is out, who knows could be that off chance hit.

that isn't the point. the studio cost too much to run, even if the game would have been a hit. one single game isn't going to make that studio go from red to black in the budget, sadly.

 

[Mifune]

Christ, this blows. I really really hope this isn't true, but I suppose that hope is unrealistic.

Mercenaries kicked ass.

 

[LiK]

They should at least wait until the game is out, who knows could be that off chance hit.

same thing happened with the SW: Force Unleashed developers. and look at it now, big hit with a rerelease. the company only looks at the bottom line.

 

[gregor7777]

What gregor7777 would have been saying in 1999...

:lol perhaps, but IMO things have changed drastically in the last 10 years. Bioware worked through it, companies like Interplay did not.

 

[Why For?]

the game is done. that is why they are doing this now. the street date is December 8th. the game is out of certification and probably being printed now and then shipped to distribution in the next 10 days.

Thanks. Please excuse my stupidity.

 

[I AM JOHN!]

They should at least wait until the game is out, who knows could be that off chance hit.

Even if this game is a hit (which it won't be), Pandemic would still have a ton of things going against it:

• A ton of development problems and delays for all the projects they've worked on since the EA acquisition.
• Numerous cancelled projects, one of which would have been the tie-in game with the most successful film of the decade.
• The critical and commercial failure of the two games they have released since the acquisition.

The Saboteur has already been passed off to a more consistent and reliable team within EA, so on the off-chance that the game ends up being successful, they'll have someone to follow up on it.

 

[nexen]

Speaking of EA Montreal, you know what EA IP I want them to revive so badly? Cel Damage for Wii. Ace game that was apparently getting a sequel but it was just for Xbox and PS2 but not for the GC as well oddly, but the game looked HORRID, it even DITCHED the very cel shading that the the whole fucking IP was named after. :/ And yep, Pseudo was behind it as well.

<3 you.

CD2 was rebooted twice. First time was xbox lead, second was ps2 lead due to market conditions. Both versions were dropped because of a distinct lack of publisher interest.

But it absolutely did not ditch cel shading! The ps2 version (second CD2) just wasn't up to the same graphical fidelity due to hardware limitations. It was still extremely early in its development lifecycle and with a skeleton crew (most of the team were working on Full Auto and Crash XNA demo)

oh: and Pseudo owns the ip to Cel Damage, not EA. Though I'm not sure what happened to it since Pseudo is shuttered.

Oh and sorry Pandemic

 

[MightyHedgehog]

Dear EA, please stop buying developers so that you can stop mothballing them.

 

[Axiom]

Just once I'd like one of these rumoured layoffs threads to not be true, or not so easy to believe before confirmation.

 

[Vinci]

Just once I'd like one of these rumoured layoffs threads to not be true, or not so easy to believe before confirmation.

Blizzard is shuttering its doors soon.





Feel better?

 

[Haunted]

:sadface

 

[Caspel]

I'm actually at Bioware Edmonton today. I guess I now know what will be on minds of several of the people that I am visiting. Wonder if they will care to comment on the climate of the industry.

 

[NorrenRadd]

The Saboteur has already been passed off to a more consistent and reliable team within EA, so on the off-chance that the game ends up being successful, they'll have someone to follow up on it.

Considering we are at mid-November and the game is supposed to be sold by December 8th, I think its safe to say that the game is finished. 10-14 business days to get certification from Microsoft/Sony, printing discs, covers, putting everything together and getting it to retailers.

I wonder what exactly the new team will do with Saboteur. DLC?

Edit: Yeah, lots of people mentioning that the game is likely already done. Stop worrying about that, unless you hear that it has been delayed.

 

[Oxx]

I'm not sure what your angle is with Canada vs. Tiburon; Madden is still EA's single most valuable property and it'd be pretty easy to ruin by moving it around. EA Canada doing The Sims 3 doesn't really mean much because EA can take it away from them and give it to someone else exactly the way they took it from Maxis to give it to Black Box. Is it just that they handle most of the other sports titles and so they're more valuable in aggregate than Tiburon's couple of big franchises?

I may just have an inaccurate picture of what's up with EA Canada due to the mergers up there and whatnot.

The FIFA series is kind of a big deal. I'm not sure if it ends up doing Madden-type numbers, but FIFA 10 sold 1.7m in its opening week in Europe:

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/36039/FIFA-10-launch-breaks-records

 

[squinters]

Dang, I love them just for the Battlezone games alone. Always wished they would have made a third one (in addition to a third Battlefront while they're at it).

Hope it's not true

 

[Nirolak]

The FIFA series is kind of a big deal. I'm not sure if it ends up doing Madden-type numbers, but FIFA 10 sold 1.7m in its opening week in Europe:

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/36039/FIFA-10-launch-breaks-records

FIFA outsells Madden by a fair amount now actually, even though Madden did actually go up over last year despite signs at launch to the contrary. Word of mouth must have helped there.

As for FIFA's launch, that was actually the biggest opening in EA Sports' history. Like Stump was saying, EA Sports as a division has become really, really profitable under Peter Moore. More than it even used to be.

On the topic of this news though, I do hope everyone who was effected manages to find a new place soon.

 

[KAP151]

Mercs 2 was pretty horrible.

Massive dev time, yet it was still so buggy and under whelming.

Sad to see em go, but not a surprise.

 

[Animal]

Guys I just stumbled on this article from Google finance ...

If this is accurate I am very very disappointed in you John.

 

[RJT]

Guys I just stumbled on this article from Google finance ...

If this is accurate I am very very disappointed in you John.

Wow... The irresponsible greed of some people can still amaze me...

 

[[Nintex]]

Guys I just stumbled on this article from Google finance ...

If this is accurate I am very very disappointed in you John.

John is pretty much fucked by this move. But honestly, he couldn't help it that some Pandemic games just didn't turn out well. Imagine if they did release the Dark Knight game and such? John would've been the 'hero' of EA after the Take Two take over failed with all that profit.

 

[Freedom = $1.05]

Guys I just stumbled on this article from Google finance ...

If this is accurate I am very very disappointed in you John.

If anything, it shows how much confidence they had in Bioware and it's MMO endeavors. But that's giving him way too much credit.

 

[Nihilistic Monk]

It's a shame, true Mercenaries 2 didn't turn out as well as the first one, but I recently played Saboteur at eurogamer expo in the UK, and both me and my buddies all thought it played really well.

Hope it does still come out, but going to the Army of two developers? Please no bromance or fistpumps....

 

[daegan]

John is pretty much fucked by this move. But honestly, he couldn't help it that some Pandemic games just didn't turn out well. Imagine if they did release the Dark Knight game and such? John would've been the 'hero' of EA after the Take Two take over failed with all that profit.

After seeing the GI Joe game they actually released I can't imagine the Dark Knight game was THAT BAD.

 

[careksims]

NOOOOOOO! I had so much fun with the Battlefront series! So many hours wasted on those gems! RIP Pandemic!

I wanted my Battlefront 3 in HD.

 

[ibu]

I will forever lament the fact there is no next-gen Full Spectrum Warrior... man I loved that game.

Never really felt the other games too much.

RIP Pandemic.

 

[I AM JOHN!]

John is pretty much fucked by this move. But honestly, he couldn't help it that some Pandemic games just didn't turn out well. Imagine if they did release the Dark Knight game and such? John would've been the 'hero' of EA after the Take Two take over failed with all that profit.

Exactly. Riccitello completely overpaid for Bioware/Pandemic for his own personal gain, true, but it's not as if the deal couldn't have been defended had things not gone south. Pandemic had a slew of games that did really well last generation (both Full Spectrum Warriors, both Destroy All Humans!, both Star Wars Battlefronts, and Mercenaries), and were handed the development rights to the game adaptation of the most successful movie of this decade. Even if TDK sucked, the amount of copies it would've sold in the first few weeks alone would have been enough to potentially make Mercenaries 2 and LotR Conquest's underperformances a non-issue.

Again: Pandemic had a ton of chances to get things right. They botched every single one of them and that's part of why they're gone.

 

[riceandbeans]

Pretty much, Old Republic is going to be the biggest potential failure for them. And it's a stretch to imagine it outright failing.

Or they're biggest amount of win. To step foot on WoW's turf nowadays, you need a big IP and what's a bigger IP than Star Wars? The game will sell half of itself on it's name, another portion on it's dev Bioware, and the rest on gameplay.

 

[Masta_Killah]

Considering we are at mid-November and the game is supposed to be sold by December 8th, I think its safe to say that the game is finished. 10-14 business days to get certification from Microsoft/Sony, printing discs, covers, putting everything together and getting it to retailers.

I wonder what exactly the new team will do with Saboteur. DLC?

Edit: Yeah, lots of people mentioning that the game is likely already done. Stop worrying about that, unless you hear that it has been delayed.

Patch support and updates.

 

[cuyahoga]

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=26120

According to an internal memo obtained by Gamasutra, Pandemic founders Josh Resnick, Andrew Goldman, and Greg Borrud will leave the company. "A reduction in the work force at Pandemic" is being reported elsewhere at around 200 employees, with the remainder of the Pandemic team reporting to EALA's Sean Decker at the company's Playa Vista offices.…

"I want to make it clear that the Pandemic brand and franchises will live on," writes EA SVP Nick Earl in the internal memo. "In the months ahead, we will announce plans for new games based on Pandemic franchises."

I guess Mercenaries 3 is still going to come out.

 

[element]

Hope it does still come out, but going to the Army of two developers? Please no bromance or fistpumps....

The Saboteur is done. From what it sounds like EA Montreal will be doing DLC and future versions if the game is successful enough to need a sequel.

It isn't like people at Pandemic were working on The Saboteur and showed up to work today to find out it is being moved to another studio. They have probably been done for a couple weeks, let the dust settle, and management made the decision on the studio.

It wouldn't shock me if some of the management at Pandemic start a new studio with some of the talent.

 

[Y2Kev]

Guys I just stumbled on this article from Google finance ...

If this is accurate I am very very disappointed in you John.

*claps*

The bell tolls for thee, Mr. Riccitiello.

 

[besiktas1]

hahaha

That's what these assholes get for releasing Mercenaries 2. Justice served.

-_- can we have have a tag change to Banned Cunt.

 

[kylej]

I will forever lament the fact there is no next-gen Full Spectrum Warrior... man I loved that game.

Never really felt the other games too much.

RIP Pandemic.

sheeeeeeeeeit I forgot they made FSW. So many afternoons spent playing that with friends. bummer.

 

[Mooreberg]

I have never been into their games, but a shame that people are losing their jobs close to the holidays. That whole Batman game situation still seems bizarre. How did EA not put their foot down and demand that something get shipped?

Perhaps for the best, since Rocksteady got the job done.

 

[NullPointer]

I guess Mercenaries 3 is still going to come out.

Great news. Mercenaries 2 was one *very* solid patch away from greatness. But a new iteration that adds more usable controls (instant throw of supports), kills the glitches (spontaneously exploding vehicles anyone?), upgrades the AI (too much to list here), and overhauls the co-op mechanics would be a day one purchase for me.

Mercenaries was one of the very few open world sandboxes that was filled with tons of gameplay. GTA4 can be the master of open world story driven missions, Mercenaries should be the standard for open world emergent battles.

 

[Madman]

I'm kind of sad to see them go. A fully realized Mercs 3 on Cryengine 3 would have been amazing.

That or Geomod 2.0 would be an awesome addition for the series.