EA Closes DICE Canada Offices

Following news at the beginning of the week that major publisher Electronic Arts had finalized its acquisition of Swedish-headquartered Digital Illusions CE (aka DICE) development studio, sources from DICE's Ontario-based branch office have confirmed that the DICE Canada studio has been shuttered. According to official reports, the announcement that the studio would be closed came shortly after news of EA's acquisition. The DICE Canada studio was home to 28 employees. Electronic Arts originally obtained a controlling stake in DICE in January 2005, and successfully completed the purchase of the developer in March 2006, and following the deal, DICE maintained it would continue to focus on its long running Battlefield franchise, and will create new products for the PC and next-generation consoles, as well as unspecified “new platforms.” The DICE Canada studio was responsible for Battlefield: Vietnam and Battlefield 2: Special Forces franchise entries, but it's believed that the large alternative EA studios in Canada, including Vancouver and Montreal, made it impractical for the company to continue to operate the studio.