EA acquires Battlefield developer

Redwood City (CA) - Electronic Arts today announced a deal to acquire game developer Digital Illusions CE. Effective immediately, the acuisition brings the creators of the Battlefield series under full ownership of EA.

Electronic Arts has several games published with Digital Illusions CE (DICE) as the developer, the bulk of them being from the war-themed shooter games in the Battlefield franchise.

The new acquisition will prevent other companies from publishing DICE games. Since last year, though, the developer has only made Battlefield titles for EA. The last game developed for another publisher was 2004’s Ralisport Challenge 2 for Microsoft Game Studios.

Under the new deal, DICE will continue to focus on Battlefield. "EA is thrilled to officially welcome this team of incredibly talented people and a globally recognized game franchise. The DICE studio has strong opportunity for growth as we build the Battlefield franchise and other new products. We’re confident that our creative approach and business leadership principles are well matched to share future success," said Paul Lee, President of EA’s Worldwide Studios.

Specifically, the acquisition is a merger by which Electronic Arts receives all assets and liabilities of DICE. The publicly traded DICE stock is no longer on any exchange, and current shareholders will receive 67.5 kronors ($9.22) per share.