In a semi-shocking announcement, Electronic Arts has just revealed that it has acquired both BioWare and Pandemic Studios by buying the parent company, VG Holding Corp.
EA is reported to have paid around $620 million to the stockholders, as well as giving away $155 million in equity to key people at VG Holding and is lending the company up to $35 million on top of all that.
That is a lot of moolah and the price has no doubt been driven up by the highly anticipated Mass Effect which is under development at BioWare.
"These are two of the most respected studios in the industry and I'm glad to be working with them again. They'll make a strong contribution to our strategic growth initiatives on quality, online gaming and developing new intellectual properties," said John Riccitiello, EA's Chief Executive Officer. "We also expect this will drive long-term value for our shareholders.
"We are truly excited by John Riccitiello's new vision for EA," said Ray Muzyka, Co-founder and CEO of BioWare Corp. "This vision is consistent with BioWare's focus on crafting the highest quality story-driven games in the world. It will enable us to further the careers of the passionate, creative and hard working teams at BioWare Edmonton and BioWare Austin."
What this means for the future of both companies is still a little uncertain though and one of the major worries is that BioWare will be put to work on more regular, less polished console titles. Hopefully though, that won't be the case and we'll see a few more quality PC RPGs come out of the company. I for one am itching for another Planescape game.
So, how do you think the acquisition will affect the companies involved? Is this a good thing, giving BioWare and Pandemic more resources, or is it a bad thing as it links them to a major publisher? Speculation and opinions in the forums please.
EA is reported to have paid around $620 million to the stockholders, as well as giving away $155 million in equity to key people at VG Holding and is lending the company up to $35 million on top of all that.
That is a lot of moolah and the price has no doubt been driven up by the highly anticipated Mass Effect which is under development at BioWare.
"These are two of the most respected studios in the industry and I'm glad to be working with them again. They'll make a strong contribution to our strategic growth initiatives on quality, online gaming and developing new intellectual properties," said John Riccitiello, EA's Chief Executive Officer. "We also expect this will drive long-term value for our shareholders.
"We are truly excited by John Riccitiello's new vision for EA," said Ray Muzyka, Co-founder and CEO of BioWare Corp. "This vision is consistent with BioWare's focus on crafting the highest quality story-driven games in the world. It will enable us to further the careers of the passionate, creative and hard working teams at BioWare Edmonton and BioWare Austin."
What this means for the future of both companies is still a little uncertain though and one of the major worries is that BioWare will be put to work on more regular, less polished console titles. Hopefully though, that won't be the case and we'll see a few more quality PC RPGs come out of the company. I for one am itching for another Planescape game.
So, how do you think the acquisition will affect the companies involved? Is this a good thing, giving BioWare and Pandemic more resources, or is it a bad thing as it links them to a major publisher? Speculation and opinions in the forums please.
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