Pandemic Studios

Pandemic Studios is a developer.

An American development studio headquartered in Los Angeles. Pandemic Studios created games for PC and consoles, and its most notable works included Full Spectrum Warrior, Destroy All Humans!, Star Wars: Battlefront, Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction, and The Saboteur.

History of Pandemic Studios

The studio dates back to 1998. After leaving Activision and receiving a capital investment from the company, Josh Resnick and Andrew Goldman founded their own development studio, which they ultimately decided to name Pandemic Studios (although they considered other ideas, such as Seismic).

Beginning of business

Developers created their own Zero engine, which they refined over the following years. As for the games they created, the list began with Battlezone II: Combat Commander, a futuristic tank-based shooter/strategy hybrid released in 1999. In 2000, the studio released a strategy game called Dark Reign 2, and two years later, Pandemic Studios released another RTS - Army Men: RTS. In 2002, the studio released Triple Play, a sports game focused on baseball, but it quickly turned out to be a one-time foray into sports games.

A Star Wars adventure

In 2002, Pandemic Studios began a successful "romance" with theStar Wars universe, preparing an action game based on this license titled Star Wars: The Clone Wars . The studio had to wait until Star Wars: Battlefront, released two years later, for a true hit. In 2004, the studio released the tactical Full Spectrum Warrior.

In 2005, Pandemic Studios released three titles. The first was Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction, dubbed "war GTA." The second was a humorous action game titled Destroy All Humans!, which allowed players to become an alien who has mistakenly invaded Earth. The third game on the list was Star Wars: Battlefront II.

The new owner

In November 2005, Pandemic Studios was acquired by Elevation Partners, along with BioWare. In January 2008, it was officially acquired by Electronic Arts, along with its studios. In the meantime, however, the studio released sequels to its latest works, Full Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers and Destroy All Humans! 2: Make War Not Love (both released in 2006).

In 2006, Pandemic Studios started working on Batman: The Dark Knight , however, due to the fact that the project encountered serious technical problems, it was ultimately decided to cancel it in October 2008.

The slippery slope and the studio's closure

In 2008, the studio released Mercenaries 2: World in Flames. In January 2009, Pandemic Studios released the multiplayer Lord of the Rings: Conquest, but in February, EA decided to close its Brisbane office. In November 2009, the company experienced a wave of layoffs, and shortly thereafter, news broke that Pandemic Studios was closing down completely. In December, we got their last game - The Saboteur set during the World War II.

Developers laid off from Pandemic Studios found employment at various companies. Some joined EA Los Angeles, while others moved on to 343 Industries, Infinity Ward, Treyarch, and Respawn Entertainment, among others.