EA Makes Grab For DICE

Officials from publishing giant Electronic Arts have announced a tender offer for all outstanding shares of Battlefield 1942 developer Digital Illusions CE (aka DICE). The Swedish developer’s board has unanimously recommended to their shareholders that they accept the offer, meaning the company is now extremely likely to be acquired by EA, although the final deal is not yet completely official. "The game industry is entering a very challenging period of technology transition," said DICE's chairman Torsten Larsson. "Making DICE a full partner with EA will strengthen DICE's ability to navigate the transition to the next generation of technology." "At EA, we see this as an opportunity to accelerate the growth of a great studio team," said Rory Armes, general manager of EA European Studios. "In the next five years, we hope to introduce new franchises and double the number of people working at this studio." The two companies have worked together since the release of PC online hit Battlefield 1942 in 2002. Electronic Arts acquired approximately 19 percent of the developer’s shares in 2003, and at the same time entered into a fifteen year distribution agreement. The developer has offices in its native Sweden, Canada, and New York, and recently revealed profits of $6 million, also mentioning plans to develop two separate titles for next generation consoles. Digital Illusions itself was formed in 1988, and found early success with a series of pinball games for the Amiga, it now specializes in the online Battlefield games and driving titles such as RalliSport Challenge and Midtown Madness 3.