EA has confirmed to IndustryGamers that Pandemic will be closing its doors and relocating to EA Los Angeles in Playa Vista as part of EA's recent cost reduction plan affecting 1,500 employees. At the Playa Vista facility, what's left of the Pandemic team will report to EALA GM Sean Decker. About 200 people were let go, including Pandemic founders Josh Resnick, Andrew Goldman and Greg Borrud; it's currently unclear what their next career steps will be.
The folks at Gamasutra managed to obtain an internal memo from Pandemic/EA that goes into further detail. In the memo, EA said this studio consolidation is designed to "accelerate our transformation to a direct-to-consumer digital model, and to better manage our cost structure." The goal is for EALA to become a "showcase for the 'fewer things better'" strategy; for example, the memo describes a "a re-invention of the Medal of Honor franchise with a new design that is simply stunning."
Pandemic recently finished up development on Saboteur, and the studio's known for other hits like Full Spectrum Warrior, Star Wars: Battlefront, Destroy All Humans!, and Mercenaries. EA, which acquired Pandemic in October 2007 when it bought BioWare-Pandemic parent company VG Holding for $800 million, said that many of the studio's franchises will continue. "I want to make it clear that the Pandemic brand and franchises will live on," commented Redwood Shores general manager Nick Earl in the memo. "In the months ahead, we will announce plans for new games based on Pandemic franchises."
Elsewhere in the memo, it was announced that Trion World Network co-founder and Might and Magic creator Jon Van Caneghem, who left Trion earlier this year, has now joined EALA to lead the Command and Conquer brand with "a new digital model that is going to re-ignite the fan base for this franchise." IndustryGamers actually heard from EA about Van Canegham a couple days ago, but the news was embargoed. Now that it's out, you can expect more about Van Canegham's role soon. Stay tuned.
