Ben-DutkaEarly reports are rolling in around the Internet that say Pandemic Studios will be closing its doors by the end of the day.
According to Kotaku , sources are saying that almost all of Pandemic's 200-member staff will be handed their walking papers today, while a few will be slipped in amongst other EA-owned studios. If you're wondering how this will impact their upcoming project, The Saboteur , this will pass to EA's Montreal team, although you can probably forget about another Mercenaries title for a while. Pandemic may be one of the casualties of EA's recent cost cutting plan, which will result in 1500 employees losing their jobs, but as of now, this is only rumor. It's possible that the studio won't close entirely but might simply suffer major layoffs; everyone is awaiting EA's response to this issue. If you recall, Pandemic has been responsible for the likes of the relatively well-received Mercenaries titles, Full Spectrum Warrior , and Star Wars: Battlefront . We haven't heard much of The Saboteur in recent months and that's typically a bad sign, but we're still hoping the project turns out well. We never like to see competent studios bite the dust.
This be a tough business, though. It almost seems like if you don't produce the best of the best, you're always in danger of sitting home, wondering what might have been.
Bummer. The Saboteur recieves excellent developer interaction on the Playstation Blog.
On a 50 comment thread, the man with the beard will answer more then half of them.
The game is on my Christmas list.
the saboteur really looked interesting… i hope this title stays on the burner… but, considering the games ben mentioned, there's not a whole lot of quality in there… i can see where EA is coming from… if they are struggling, why not cut ties with some of the lesser studios they have in their stable?
mercenaries was a cool concept but, i felt like it failed on so many other levels… and mercs 2 didn't do anything to change my mind either…
it's a cut-throat business, video games are… if your not the best, your not good enough…
Last edited by bOnEs on 11/17/2009 12:47:53 PM
good point bones
Its kinda a double-edged sword at the minute. As a gamer, we're lucky we have loads of AAA titles coming out but as a developer, if your game doesnt stand out, it'll just get lost in the crowd and with dev costs higher now than they've ever been, devs just cant afford for that to happen
right, it's good for us but, not for the devs making the games… most don't see this side of the industry (not talking about us here lol)… but, if your game is only OK, sells a few copies, and makes some money, it's still doesn't guarantee your future success within the industry… hell, even if your game goes on to be one the greatest of the generation, you could still release that one bad egg that doesn't sell well and sinks the company…
cut-throat indeed… i always wanted to start a game company if i ever won the lottery but, it only takes one decent game to sink a company…
Wow what? How could EA do that to Pandemic =| They've made a bunch of great stuff. Star Wars Battlefront series being one of them, greatest star wars game ever, on console. Sigh….wish they would have done 3. Well..maybe where ever these guys are going they'll get to work on it somehow.
I too wish Battlefront would make an appearance on the current console(s) 🙁
Wow EA's cost cutting? They surely turned a profit on 2/4 of the titles mentioned above if not then Damn.
Damn. Poor guys. I've never heard of Pandemic Studios, though.
How'd you get no username?
I guess The Saboteur might not arrive on December 8?
Very sad news that a pretty revered software house is being closed. I think EA might be becoming video gaming's version of The Ottoman Empire.
weird, I just saw a PSBlog post that was all a development post about saboteur from the Pandemic guys, thats gotta be a good sign out of all this right?
Oh no they didn't!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEbE3fGfF-o
Last edited by Superman915 on 11/17/2009 1:14:00 PM
Bummer. I am looking forward to Saboteur.
I don't see The Saboteur being put on the backburner since EA has been rolling out videos for the game like crazy on the PlayStation Store lately.
I feel bad for the guys at Pandemic, though. It's times like these that makes me happy I'm in a (more) secure job.
Damn shame, hope anybody effected are back on the breadline soon. Any other sources that can confirm this round of lay-offs?
The Saboteur is on my keep an eye out for it list. Hope the others find a job soon.
Yeah, that was the last game i was looking forward to for the year. I hope this doesnt say anything about the quality of the game.
Its tough, assuming 50k salary per employee, 200 will be 100 million per year. They would need to shoot out games every year that sell 2 million+ copies. It's not that easy at competitive times like now.
Last edited by godsman on 11/17/2009 3:21:50 PM
isn't 200 people at 50k = 10 million?
Though in general, it is indeed a lot of expenses when you factor in your cost of goods for a labor force that big.
hate to see em go, but mercs 2 wasnt up to muster. thats the way this business works, unfortunately. nobody can afford 60 clams for a sub-par game.
As sad as this news is, I suspect that EA is simply going to develop "Pandemic" games through another name. Perhaps they're feeling Pandemic has a muddied name? I liked their games despite their obvious scrappiness, but not everyone did.
That is a shame. Mercs was not pretty but DAMN, was it fun.
Well you guys may have only made three great games that I enjoyed but hell it sadly had to happened.
no great loss there.
The issue with cost is huge; if this continues you will only get to hear to words in the gaming world… as they will command everything … EA & Activision …and of course, the M$ and Sony Studios that work on AAA exclusives… but a lot of other developers will go to wall… Indie developers really have a tough time as costs escalate…
Q!
"i am home"
Oh, man. I remember playing Star Wars Battlefield 2 online. God, was that so much fun. Everybody had mics in that game. Shame to see one of my favorite game-designers go.
I hope its not true. Its like sending away a mother away from her child and let another family adopt the child. I don't want to be in either position. Hope the best for the people at Pandemic.
Last edited by Poor_boy on 11/17/2009 8:56:15 PM
Always a sad day when a game studio closes it's doors 🙁
*Mourning*
dont want to sound mean but it serves them right.
theres so many developers out there, theres no shortage so you either bring your a game or your out.
simple.
they took FAR! to long to make mercenaries 2, they pushed back the release like 6 times than released it and i could swear it was still in alpha stage.
no game has ever released with that many bugs.
theres no room for lazy crappy developers in this industry your either A+ or your out.
so, meh, they got what they deserved.
its a shame tbh, but at least free radical / crytek uk were / are (hopefully) developing battlefront 3
Well, SWBF3 is in limbo at the moment, free radical went down, crytek took over but there is no real news on bf3 and there are rumours that it has just been ditched. The leaked footage on youtube looked amazing aswell.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j81I_-uaOqg
Always loved pandemic Destroy all humans, Battlefront 2, sad…
Damn, this is one world wide Pandemic that I will truly miss.