Crispy Gamer News

Yesterday, when we reported on Free Radical’s closure, we wrapped up wondering just who was next on the chopping block. This morning, we got our answer, as Electronic Arts announced further details on a restructuring plan, which will include consolidating facilities and a new round of holiday layoffs.

According to the announcement, EA expects the restructuring plan to save it somewhere around $120 million annually and $60 million or so over the next several financial quarters. Under the new restructuring plan, EA will cut about 1,000 jobs, roughly 10 percent of its total worldwide workforce. The majority of these cuts are expected to be completed by March 31, 2009. The restructuring also calls for consolidation or closure of at least nine of the company’s studio and publishing locations, including the Vancouver-based Black Box Studio, which has been responsible for the company’s Need for Speed and Skate franchises. The Black Box teams and associated game franchises will move to the nearby EA studio location in Burnaby, British Columbia.

This new round of layoffs and consolidation comes at a rough time for EA. The company had already announced a round of upcoming layoffs back in October, now having to raise the number of jobs cut from the original 6 percent to the current 10 percent. While the current state of the world economy may be a major factor in EA’s current financial woes, many analysts have laid part of the blame on the company’s dogged pursuit of a Take-Two takeover earlier in the year. Black Box’s fate probably wasn’t helped by the lackluster reviews of Need for Speed Undercover either.

Black Box, the EA studio currently hard at work on Need for Speed Undercover, today dished out some details on the upcoming game’s online modes, including the all-new multiplayer mode, dubbed Cops and Robbers. This team-based mode pits two teams of four players against each other playing both sides of the law in a high speed pursuit.

In Cops and Robbers, one team of “robbers” must pick up a package and take it to a designated drop-off point while the cops attempt to prevent the delivery. Each game consists of two rounds, giving the players the chance to play as both the cops and the robbers. Besides playing Cops and Robbers, up to eight players will also be able to compete against each other in the more standard Sprint and Circuit multiplayer race modes.
(more…)

EA’s Black Box studio revealed new details about the latest action racing game in the Need For Speed series, Need for Speed Undercover. Need for Speed Undercover will let players race through speedways, dodge cops and chase down rivals as they go deep undercover to take down an International crime syndicate - in other words, the latest game finally returns to its roots. The new game brings back the series’ trademark police chases and introduces the all-new ‘Heroic Driving Engine’ - a technology that generates racing moves at 180 miles per hour during highway battles.

Other promised features include an open-world environment featuring over 80 miles of roads, an enormous highway system where combat driving will unfold, high-speeds, high-stakes chase sequences, a new A.I. mechanic that will provide realistic and high-energy action driving, aggressive and intelligent cops whose sole purpose is to take down the player quickly, deep car customization, real-world damage and realistic driving physics, and some of the hottest licensed cars on the market including the Audi R8, BMW M6 and Lexus IS-F.

Need for Speed Undercover is being developed by Black Box in Vancouver, B.C., and will be in stores in North America on November 18 and in Europe on November 21. The game will be available for Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PlayStation 2, DS, PSP, PC and mobile.