In the games industry, EA has this reputation of buying independent game companies, and then shutting them down. A look at their EA's former studios has some rather grim statistics for their acquisitions:
- Origin Systems (Ultima, Wing Commander) - EA acquired in 1992, closed in 2004.
- Bullfrog Productions - acquired in 1995, closed in 2001.
- EA Baltimore - acquired in 1996, closed in 2000
- EA Seattle (Manley & Associates) - acquired in 1996, closed in 2001.
- Maxis - acquired in 1997, moved into EA Redwood City in 2004.
- Westwood Studios - acquired in 1998, shutdown in 2003.
- EA Pacific (formerly Westwood Pacific) - acquired in 1998, closed in 2003.
- Kesmai (aka Gamestorm) - acquired in 1999, closed in 2001.
- DICE Canada - acquired October 2, 2006, closed hours later.
Now they've acquired Pandemic and BioWare. Pandemic (Dark Reign 2, Star Wars Battlefront, Full Spectrum Warrior, Destroy All Humans) and BioWare (Baldur's Gate, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic) are both owned by VG Holding Corp, which is the real acquisition by EA, but I highly suspect that EA's goal is geared more towards capturing the intellectual property these companies own than expanding their offices to where Pandemic and BioWare located. Most of these closures happen slowly over a couple of years as products in progress finish, and slowly the office is downsized until there is no one left.
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