EA DICE

EA Digital Illusions CE AB
Formerly called
  • Digital Illusions HB (1992–1993)
  • Digital Illusions CE AB (1993–2006)
Subsidiary
Industry
Founded May 1992 (1992-05)[1]
Founder
Headquarters Stockholm, Sweden
Number of locations
 3 offices
Area served
 Worldwide
Key people
 Karl-Magnus Troedsson (CEO)
Products
Revenue Increase 1,176.949 million kr[2] (2016)
Increase 86.899 million kr[2] (2016)
Profit Increase 65.584 million kr[2] (2016)
Total assets Increase 468.531 million kr[2] (2016)
Total equity Increase 127.000 million kr[2] (2016)
Number of employees
 640 (2016)
Parent Electronic Arts (2006–)
Divisions DICE Los Angeles
Website dice.se

EA Digital Illusions CE AB (short EA DICE, formerly Digital Illusions HB and later Digital Illusions CE AB) is a Swedish video game developer based in Stockholm. The company was founded in 1992 and has been a subsidiary of Electronic Arts since 2006. Its releases include the Battlefield series, Mirror's Edge, and Star Wars Battlefront, and it is also the main developer behind EA's Frostbite engine.

History

DICE was founded as Digital Illusions in May 1992 in Växjö, Sweden by four people, Ulf Mandorff, Olof Gustafsson, Fredrik Liliegren, and Andreas Axelsson, members of the former demogroup The Silents.[1][3][4] The Silents' work is visible in some DICE games. For example, The Silents used the acronym TSL; this acronym is visible in Motorhead on banners and signs. According to the Motorhead manual, TSL is said to stand for "Trans-atlantic Speed League", a case of a backronym.

For an extended period of time, while the employees were also students at Växjö University, the company's office consisted of a small dorm room. During those days the company developed popular pinball games for the Amiga computers, such as Pinball Dreams, Pinball Fantasies and Pinball Illusions. The company moved to Gothenburg in 1994 where it was headquartered until 2005, when that office was merged with the ex-Refraction Games office in Stockholm.

In 1998, the company was registered on the Swedish stock exchange. Although Codename Eagle received a small cult following, the biggest break for DICE was the release of Battlefield 1942 and its sequels and expansions. The Battlefield series jump-started their popularity. In 2004, the total value of the company was estimated at approximately US$55 million.

Expansion

In January 2000, the company bought Refraction Games and 90% of Synergenix Interactive. This was followed in March 2001 by the acquisition of Sandbox Studios in London, Ontario, Canada.

Acquisition by Electronic Arts

In November 2004, Electronic Arts announced their intent to purchase all outstanding shares in DICE at a price of 61 kr per share.[5] The board of directors of DICE recommended that the company's shareholders accept the offer. Electronic Arts owned 62% of DICE on 31 March 2005.

On 2 October 2006, EA completed the acquisition for 67.75 kr per share for 2.6 million shares, for a total of 175.5 million kr. DICE was renamed to EA Digital Illusions CE,[6] and CEO Patrick Söderlund became an EA Studio General Manager.[7] DICE Canada, which at the time was being run by DICE co-founder Fredrik Liliegren, was closed down immediately upon acquisition.[8]

In May 2013, DICE Los Angeles was opened as an additional location to DICE. It was formed some time after the dissolution of EA's former subsidiary Danger Close Games, also known before as EA Los Angeles, as a consequence of the commercial failure of Medal of Honor: Warfighter. Several Danger Close employees were transferred to the new studio, while the leadership team including studio manager Fredrik Loving moved from Stockholm.[9] DICE Los Angeles had co-operated with DICE Stockholm in the development of Battlefield 4. The LA studio is also working on unannounced projects, built on the Frostbite 3 engine. In May 2013, DICE General Manager Karl-Magnus Troedsson said in an interview: "There is an extreme talent pool over that we want a part of."[10]

Games developed

Year Title Platform(s) Notes
1992 Pinball Dreams Amiga, MS-DOS, NES
Pinball Fantasies Amiga, MS-DOS, NES, 3DO
1994 Amiganoid Amiga
Benefactor
Hardcore Sega Genesis Finished but never released
1995 Pinball Illusions Amiga, MS-DOS
1997 True Pinball PlayStation, Sega Saturn
S40 Racing Microsoft Windows
1998 Motorhead Microsoft Windows, PlayStation
1999 Swedish Touring Car Championship Microsoft Windows
2000 Swedish Touring Car Championship 2
Test Drive Rally Nintendo 64, PlayStation Cancelled
Rally Masters Microsoft Windows
Riding Champion: Legacy of Rosemond Hill
NASCAR Heat PlayStation In collaboration with Monster Games
2001 Matchbox Emergency Patrol Microsoft Windows
JumpStart Wildlife Safari Field Trip PlayStation
JumpStart Dino Adventure Field Trip Game Boy Color
Diva Starz: Mall Mania
Shrek Xbox, GameCube
2002 Rallisport Challenge Microsoft Windows, Xbox
Pryzm: Chapter One — The Dark Unicorn PlayStation 2
Battlefield 1942 Microsoft Windows, OS X
Shrek Extra Large GameCube
The Land Before Time: Big Water Adventure PlayStation
V8 Challenge Microsoft Windows
2003 Battlefield 1942: The Road to Rome Microsoft Windows, OS X Expansion pack for Battlefield 1942
Midtown Madness 3 Xbox
Battlefield 1942: Secret Weapons of WWII Microsoft Windows, OS X Expansion pack for Battlefield 1942
2004 Battlefield Vietnam Microsoft Windows
Rallisport Challenge 2 Xbox
2005 Battlefield 2 Microsoft Windows
Battlefield 2: Modern Combat PlayStation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360
2006 Battlefield 2142 Microsoft Windows, OS X
2008 Battlefield: Bad Company PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Mirror's Edge Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, iOS
2009 Battlefield Heroes Microsoft Windows In collaboration with Easy Studios; freeware
Battlefield 1943 Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
2010 Battlefield: Bad Company 2 iOS, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Android, iOS, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Wii, Windows Phone, Xbox 360 In collaboration with Criterion Games
Battlefield Online Microsoft Windows In collaboration with Neowiz Games; freeware
Medal of Honor Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 Developed the multiplayer aspect
2011 Battlefield Play4Free Microsoft Windows In collaboration with Easy Studios; freeware
Battlefield 3 iOS, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
2013 Battlefield 4 Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
2015 Battlefield Hardline In collaboration with Visceral Games
Star Wars Battlefront Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
2016 Mirror's Edge Catalyst
Battlefield 1
2017 Star Wars Battlefront II[11] In development and in collaboration with Criterion Games and Motive Studios

References

  1. 1 2 "Article Series: Part 1 Home of Digital Illusions" (in Swedish). PCgaming.nu. Retrieved 18 March 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Bokslut & Nyckeltal - EA Digital Illusions CE AB" (in Swedish). allabolag.se. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  3. ↑ "The Silents (TSL)". Amiga Music Preservation. Retrieved 8 May 2008.
  4. ↑ Uhr, Bobic (18 January 2007). "4Sceners: Digital Illusions". 4Players.de. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  5. ↑ Brundin, Sverker (15 November 2004). "Electronic Arts köper Digital Illusions" [Electronic Arts purchases Digital Illusions]. Computer Sweden (in Swedish). IDG.se. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  6. ↑ Thorsen, Tor (2 October 2006). "EA rolls DICE for $23 million". GameSpot. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
  7. ↑ "EA Officially Picks Up DICE". Edge. 2 October 2006. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  8. ↑ Boyer, Brandon (5 October 2006). "EA Closes DICE Canada Offices". Gamasutra. Retrieved 10 October 2006.
  9. ↑ Yin-Poole, Wesley (13 June 2015). "Star Wars: Battlefront is "DICE's interpretation of what Battlefront should be"". Eurogamer. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  10. ↑ Hansegard, Jens; Ledel, Johannes (15 May 2013). "EA Opening New Los Angeles Game Studio". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
  11. ↑ http://starwars.ea.com/starwars/battlefront/news/star-wars-battlefront-ii-celebration
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