Confirmed: EA guts Pandemic

 Update: A Shacknews report confirms that EA has cut a large potion of the workforce at Pandemic, but says that it  is not getting rid of the studio, - it is  consolidating it into a “core team” and moving it to EALA. Here’s what EA said officially:

“Pandemic Studios and its franchises will be relocated to the EALA facility in nearby Playa Vista,” a rep for the company told Shacknews. “This move has resulted in a reduction in the work force at Pandemic…That said, the Pandemic brand and franchises will continue to live on. A core team of Pandemic developers will move to EALA and continue development on Pandemic games with a focus on quality, cost management and schedule integrity.”

Original Story: Is the other shoe about to drop for Panedemic’s L.A. studio? According to this Kotaku report, citing reliable sources close to the situation, EA will lay off most of Pandemic’s Los Angeles studio at 11 AM PST. The Saboteur, the current project being developed by Pandemic will  be shifted to Army of Two developer EA Montreal - also according to the Kotaku report.

Pandemic’s Brisbane studio, which was developing a game adaption of the latest Batman film, The Dark Knight, was cut loose from the EA family in January of this year. Pandemic is best known for developing such franchises as Full Spectrum Warrior, Mercenaries, Star Wars: Battlefront and Destroy All Humans.

If this rumor is true it means that most of the 200 people that work at Pandemic L.A. will be out of work right before the holidays, which is absolutly horrible, but a typical move by corporations in the fourth quarter. Earlier in the month EA laid off a large number of employees from its Maxis studio. No doubt EA will be making cuts across the board as it tries to hit the restructuring number of 1500 before the next fiscal quarter in March 2010.

We’ll have more on this story as it develops and hopefully an official confirmation or denial from EA soon.

G4 Scales Back Shows, Cuts Staff

G4’s X-Play and Attack of the Show are being scaled back, and some staff from both television programs have been let go according to a report on Joystiq. Citing an earlier conversations with “reliable sources” close to the company and a confirmation from G4, Joystiq reports that both shows will be scaled back to three original episodes a week beginning March 3.

The company confirmed that both shows had been scaled back and that some staff were let go, but didn’t comment on actual numbers. A company spokesmen said that the saving will be used for more “original programming.” The company also said that these were not budget cuts, but more of a roll-back to the old number of new episodes per week.

G4, much like MTV, VHI and even TV Land are suffering from an overabundance of unoriginal bullshit programming like Star Trek and a multitude of Japanese game shows and anime. It’s a shame because they were at one time the best game related network on television. Now, not so much.

Mythic Taking More Cuts

Mythic VP Mark Jacobs revealed on the Warhammer Online website that the company is reducing its staff as part of an overall plans set by parent company EA. Jacobs doesn’t go into detail about how many jobs have been actually cut, but word on the street has it that the numbers could be as high as 130 and as low as 60 jobs lost. In January the company cut 25 from its staff, though most were providing customer service and quality assurance testing.

Yesterday EA revealed that Mythic’s Warhammer Online had 300,000 subscribers, well below the number it managed to garner at launch: 500, 000. this news certainly couldn’t have helped the company retain staff, even though this is a pretty crucial time for the MMO; the game will soon be launching in Russia, will host the first of its giant in-game events (and new content to go along with them) and is currently taking the game on tour to places like New York comic-Con.

Jacobs says that the company is still committed to creating and delivering the best WAR experience and maintaining the trust of the players by providing content and services to keep them playing.

Sony to Cut Over 16,000 Jobs

Apparently, even the corporate might of Sony isn’t strong enough to stave off the effects of a global economic crisis. According to a financial statement released today by Sony, the electronics manufacturer will be forced to cut 8,000 jobs (about 4 percent of its total workforce), plus another 8,000 temporary jobs, in order to save roughly $1.1 billion annually. The company will close several plants, cut back on its investment in electronics, and outsource some internal work to other companies.

“The reason for this move is the deterioration of the economy, which was much larger than we expected,” said Sony Senior Vice President Naofumi Hara. “Now we are all facing a recession together. It is impossible to predict how much longer the situation will last.”

Hara said exactly how the cuts will be carried out will vary from country to country, but he did not provide a breakdown. Among the sections facing cutbacks are Sony’s movie, electronics, and video game divisions. The cost of the job cuts and plant closings will be disclosed early next year, when the company updates its earnings forecast for the fiscal year. Sony recently cut back on its full-year earnings projection. For the fiscal year through March 2009, it is expecting a $1.5 billion profit which, while impressive on paper, is actually down 59 percent from the previous year.