What's Bad For EA Is Bad For Vancouver

[SpongeG]

What's Bad For EA Is Bad For Vancouver

The city of Vancouver is feeling the impact of the recession on the videogame industry as Electronic Arts has canceled plans to open a new operation in the city while rumors fly about the possible closure of another.

Develop has reported that speculation is running high regarding the closure of EA's Vancouver-based Black Box studio. The rumors follow news that EA has lowered expectations for the 2009 fiscal year and will be increasing the number of layoffs beyond the originally announced six percent of its employees as well as reducing the number of franchises it publishes in 2010. The poor critical and commercial performance of Need For Speed: Undercover is blamed for the trouble at Black Box, and the franchise could be headed to the nearby EA Canada studio in Burnaby as a result, if it's not dropped from the EA lineup entirely.

Meanwhile, the publisher also revealed that it has killed plans to open a new studio in Vancouver as a result of slow Christmas sales and the overall sluggishness of the economy. Planning for the new studio began about a year ago, company rep Colin Macrae said, but EA has now leased the 20,000 square-foot premises to another tenant. "These are challenging times, they're uncertain times for our industry and across the board," Macrae told The Globe and Mail. But he emphasized EA's commitment to the city, adding, "We continue to be firmly rooted in Vancouver."

We've contacted EA for comment and will update when more information becomes available.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/88150-Whats-Bad-For-EA-Is-Bad-For-Vancouver

[raggedy13]

But he emphasized EA's commitment to the city, adding, "We continue to be firmly rooted in Vancouver."

Well that's at least somewhat reassuring.

[SpongeG]

does anyone know where it was?

Planning for the new studio began about a year ago, company rep Colin Macrae said, but EA has now leased the 20,000 square-foot premises to another tenant.

[teriyaki]

Well, they kind of asked for this themselves. EA as a whole has been in a downward trend (in terms of gamer popularity both in content and their DRM measures). Couple that with the recent economic downturn, and its inevitable this giant will feel the effects. Although it is sad to hear employees may lose their jobs, but I sure hope that this induces EA to re-think their strategies for game packaging.

[Alex Mackinnon]

Maybe someone should tell them that they're flopping due to the overall shittyness of their games, not just market conditions. Frankly I wouldn't be all that saddened by EA going potentially under if they'd stop destroying smaller studios.

[SpongeG]

i just read elsewhere that the office was in yaletown

[phesto]

EA subleasing their space in Yaletown was really no surprise, but the closure of Black Box would be a big loss for downtown. EA currently occupies 6 floors (~50,000 sq ft) at 250 Howe St.

[Coldrsx]

^that's the tower beside the pan correct?

[worldwide]

yep. its the pricewaterhousecoopers building

[phesto]

Yeah, they occupy the top floors of the PWC building - arguably one of the nicest blocks of office space downtown, with views, rooftop deck/lounge, etc. Here is an excerpt from their website:

In 2003, EA Black Box moved into custom-built space in the top floors of a waterfront high-rise in downtown Vancouver. They said that gamers would never make it to the towers of high finance – but they were wrong! From our sweeping spiral staircase enclosing a four-storey bamboo tree, to our state-of-the-art video game trial theatres and open-plan work environment, EA Black Box is continuing the tradition of innovation and creativity that has brought us so far in such a short time.

[Coldrsx]

^my friend works at BB.... i should ask him for some insight into this.

[Mike Stewart Realtor]

That is bad news about EA. That said the video game industry here in Vancouver has been growing hugely and I don't see this small reversal as killing the industry here...

[vanlaw]

EA to shutter Black Box studio

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081219.wgtrearts1219/BNStory/Technology/home

Globe and Mail Update

December 19, 2008 at 10:49 AM EST

British Columbia's video game industry was dealt another blow Friday morning when Electronic Arts Inc. announced that it will shutter its famous Black Box studio in downtown Vancouver and revealed plans for further layoffs.

EA's Black Box operations and development teams will be moved to the company's EA Canada studio in nearby Burnaby. It was not immediately clear whether any of the company's Black Box staff would be laid off.

The announcement comes just one week after the Redwood City, California-based video game publisher said it was shelving plans to open a new 20,000 square foot facility in Vancouver's trendy Yaletown district as a results of slow holiday sales in Europe and North America as a result of the sagging global economy.

Also on Friday, EA said it was increasing the number of jobs it plans to trim from its global work force in 2009. In October, the company said it was cutting 4 per cent of its employee base, however, on Friday EA upped that number to 10 per cent, or approximately 1,000 people. The company is also cutting the number of titles it plans to release in 2010.

An EA spokesman told The Globe and Mail last week that the company had already begun cutting jobs at its B.C. studios, but could not provide specific numbers, citing the company's policy of not commenting on specific headcount reductions at regional studios.

Shares of EA -- which have hovered near a seven year low in recent weeks -- rose nearly five per cent to $17.48 in early trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

The shuttering of Black Box is part of a consolidation process that the company hopes will yield annual savings of approximately $120-million and charges of between $55-million and $65-million over the course of the next several months.

Black Box was the only studio slated for consolidation mentioned in the release.

EA said it expects the majority of the restructuring changes to be completed by the end of March, 2009.

“EA is implementing a plan to narrow its product portfolio to focus on hit games with higher margin opportunities,” the company said in a statement.

“The company remains committed to taking creative risks, investing in new games, leading the industry in the growing mobile and online businesses, and delivering high-quality games to consumers.”

The Black Box studio has consistently ranked as one of the most successful video game production studios in the world and is responsible for the popular Need for Speed series of car racing games. EA Canada is home of the company's FIFA soccer titles and is generally regarded as one of the company's top studios.

[hollywoodnorth]

EA to shut Vancouver's Black Box studio
Video-game maker says studio to move to company's Burnaby-based facility
Last Updated: Friday, December 19, 2008 | 12:59 PM ET Comments24Recommend26
CBC News

A week after cancelling plans to expand its presence in British Columbia, video-game giant Electronic Arts. Inc. announced Friday morning it would further contract, closing downtown Vancouver's Black Box studio and revealing plans for more layoffs.

Operations for EA Black Box will be moved to the company's EA Canada studio in Burnaby, B.C., the company announced. EA Black Box, best known for making the Need for Speed series of video games, employs about 400 people, while EA Canada's studio houses about 1,400 employees.

Colin Macrae, a spokesman for EA Canada, said the Black Box studio and brand would continue, but would move to Burnaby as part of the company's worldwide consolidation. He said the move should be complete by mid-2009.

EA also announced Friday that it was upping the number of layoffs it expected to complete by the end of March from six per cent of the total workforce to 10 per cent, or about 1,000 employees.

Macrae would not comment on the specific number of employees expected to be laid off at Black Box or any of its regional locations in Canada.

EA also owns another in Montreal and runs the Edmonton-based Bioware studio. EA bought Bioware earlier this year.

The company said it was planning on closing at least nine studio and publishing locations, although Black Box was the only location named in the release.

EA said it expects the restructuring plans will result in annual cost savings of $120 million US and restructuring charges of approximately $55 million to $65 million over the next several quarters.

The announcements come a week after EA said it was cancelling plans to open a new studio in Vancouver and after the company lowered its expectation for revenue and earnings for the 2009 fiscal year.




CHEESE!

[urbanlife]

wow, never thought I would read a title like this before.

Actually there has been reports of the gaming industry doing good lately, so I would guess that if EA is having troubles, it is because of their own fault for making such crappy games...or releasing the same game every year with very minor changes to them.

I am also guessing that people working for EA shouldnt have too much problems finding new jobs if they wish to stay in the gaming industry in Vancouver. It sounds like this is a fairly decent industry for you guys.

[Yume-sama]

It is mainly EA's fault. Who would have thought that just making the same game over and over again with very minor changes (Madden, at least) and then making some games that are so DRM controlled that they make everyone who actually buys their games EXTREMELY upset would be a bad move (while people who downloaded illegally were DRM free). They managed to tick off pretty much their whole customer base with Spore.

[LotusLand]

Come on now, EA isn't all that bad. The Sims, Rock Band, NHL 09, FIFA, Skate and many more. You can't blame them for rehashing their titles, but who doesn't. Some of the biggest games are sequels. Just look at GTA, Resident Evil etc... Of course every once in awhile there will be a dynamic change, but that has more to do with the systems capability than the developer. I don't think i'm the only either:
http://vancitybuzz.blogspot.com/2008/12/ea-to-close-black-box-studio-in.html

Of course EA has its share of crapolla out there.:yuck:

With that being said the BC government should match Quebec's grants.:shrug:

[ravman]

With that being said the BC government should match Quebec's grants.


I highly doubt that is going to occur before May!

[Alex Mackinnon]

I can't forgive EA for slaughtering Maxis. Just look at the latest Sim City... honestly. I may be one of the fanboys who awaits EA's downfall, but come on, they've made a lot of shit and ruined a few good studios.

Now if were lucky some of the decent talent EA is shedding could form their own studio or get picket up by some of the other local studios.