NEWS - Monday, October 2, 2006
EA Gets Lucky DICE
Today Electronic Arts announced it has finally acquired Digital Illusions CE (DICE), the development studio behind the Battlefield game franchise. Located in Stockholm, Sweden, DICE is now a fully integrated EA studio dedicated to growing the Battlefield universe and developing new products for the PC and next-generation consoles. EA has been trying to acquire the studio since November 2004, but met with some resistance from DICE’s shareholders. The deal moved forward in March 2006 as the two companies reached an agreement (pending two-thirds approval from general shareholders) making DICE the latest addition to EA’s family of internal studios. Battlefield 1942 was released in 2002 and has gone on to be one of EA’s most successful franchises, with the anticipated Battlefield 2142 scheduled to release next month. Patrick Soderlund, DICE CEO, said, "Being part of the EA studio team is a great step forward that will help us continue to deliver new games and new franchises to DICE fans. We’ve been working very closely with EA for the past five years and this is a very natural step for us as we move into the next-generation of gaming." Patrick Soderlund will become an EA Studio General Manager, maintaining responsibility for the DICE studio and taking on additional creative responsibilities. The DICE team will continue in their roles in Stockholm. The acquisition was completed via a merger through which EA steadily gobbled up the assets and liabilities of DICE. DICE shareholders, representing approximately 2.6 million shares, will receive SEK 67.50 per share in cash, to be paid out on October 16, 2006.Source: http://www.ign.com
