Fact or Fiction: Pandemic Studios Brisbane closing

News from Yug - Wednesday, 14 January 2009 @ 11:36am

It's with a constant twang of guilt whenever I hear a rumour from multiple sources about an impending disaster in the Australian Games Industry. Sure, we all saw the writing on the wall at Auran, and how well that played out.

They were an independant company however, who had been working on the same risk niche MMO for about 10 years. Pandemic, on the other hand, is an established studio owned company, known for actually releasing GOOD games. Was the rumoured loss of one of their potentially biggest games the writing on the wall?

If the rumours I've been hearing are true, it would seem so.

Reports are coming in that EA is closing down the Pandemic offices, and the majority of staff will be let go. As bad as that sounds, this IS EA we're talking about - all staff will be given a decent and fair payout if previous lay offs are anything to go by.

The main question now is what will happen to the leads of the studio and the current, secret, next gen title they were working on (not the aformentioned bat related one). It's been speculated that the key staff will form a new independant company with EA's blessing, and are being allowed to take their game with them!

If this is the case, it's certainly a very unique set of developments, and all things considered would probably be the most positive outcome to result from a studio closure.

Calls to Pandemic Studios for official comment have been difficult considering their phone number seems to now be disconnected, and calls to official Pandemic Studios reps and EA Australia have so far gone unanswered - however I'd imagine, as per usual, the official line would be 'no comment'.

Stay tuned for more as it develops, hopefully with the recent opening of two new studios in Queensland - Tantalus and Big Ant - there will be plenty of new positions opening up for ex-Pandemic staff.

UPDATE: From close sources, an update regarding the status of Pandemic says they have been dropped. They will keep their IP and their equipment, but they're on their own. Essentially they are a start up again. Also from the sounds of it most of the staff have been let go, and only a very small number will remain (less than 10).

UPDATE: It's now confirmed prominent developers John Passfield and Tony Albrecht are no longer with Pandemic Studios. Apparently there are more than just 10 people left however. Still unconfirmed is what is happening to the studio now - whether it will continue to operate as Pandemic or under a new independent title, and if they will be able to keep working on their original I.P. game.