EA Chicago Studio To Close

Geoff Keighley, who is guest-editing Kotaku this week, has the official release from EA that their Chicago studio is closing. The 150 employees that used to work at the site are trying to be placed throughout the rest of the EA structure, while the games on tap for development there are currently on hold. The release is fairly terse when describing the reason the studio is being closed: "Each team is responsible for staying on a reasonable path to profitability. Sticking to that strategy is what gives us the financial resources and flexibility to take risks on new projects. Unfortunately, EA Chicago hasn't been able to meet that standard. The location has grown dramatically in the past three years while revenue from the games developed there has not. The number of employees has grown from 49 in 2004 to 146 people currently in the new facility in downtown Chicago. As it stands, EA Chicago has no expectation of hitting our profitability targets until FY2011 or later."

EA's strategy

[zdude255]

"Sticking to that strategy is what gives us the financial resources and flexibility to take risks on new projects." It's strategies like this that ensure we have such original games from EA like [Famous Person] [Sport] 200X.

Re:EA's strategy

[sykopomp]

Actually, it's Madden and other sports games that sell a ton and bring EA lots of profits. While you may be put off by the idea that they might even mention innovation and creativity as part of their 'strategy', remember that all that funding that's going into Spore (and a couple of other actually good games, depending on who you ask) has to come from somewhere.

EA buying and selling...

[NeutronCowboy]

So - Pandemic and Bioware are bought for $860M, which amounts to over $1 million per person. EA Chicago, which advertised as late as October of last year that it's a happening place for high-tech game development, gets closed because it's not projected to hit its profitability targets.

Can I ask? What the fuck is going on at EA? Do they even have a clue what they want? All I see is EA shitting itself down the drain. The saddest part? The grunts - the devs, testers and other peons who slave in countless death marches - will get fired, while the execs will get millions in severance packages.

Re:EA buying and selling...

[jollyreaper]

Can I ask? What the fuck is going on at EA? Do they even have a clue what they want? All I see is EA shitting itself down the drain. The saddest part? The grunts - the devs, testers and other peons who slave in countless death marches - will get fired, while the execs will get millions in severance packages.

Look on the bright side: this is like a giant tree in the forest, massive and imposing but rotten at the core. Once it falls the canopy opens, sunlight reaches the forest floor and new saplings now have a chance to take its place. I for one am looking forward to the mighty crash.