Type | Subsidiary |
---|---|
Industry | Video games |
Founded | 1995 |
Defunct | 2003 |
Fate | Dissolved, operation merged into EA Los Angeles |
Headquarters | Irvine, California |
Owner | Virgin Interactive (1995–1998) Electronic Arts (1998–2003) |
Parent | Virgin Interactive North America (1995-1998) Westwood Studios (1998-2003) |
EA Pacific (formerly known as Burst Studios and Westwood Pacific) was a developer formally owned by Virgin Interactive's North American operations, and was based in Irvine, California. Burst Studios was beset by production problems during its early years; Virgin Interactive's president of worldwide publishing, Brett W. Sperry, commented in 1997, "The way the Burst studio was structured made a lot of sense on paper, but for a variety of reasons, it wasn't delivering product at the end of the day." [1] Burst Studios was acquired by Electronic Arts together with Westwood Studios and Virgin's North American publishing operations in August 1998. [2] The company was later renamed to Westwood Pacific, under that name, the company developed or co-developed games like Nox and Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 .
It was later renamed to EA Pacific. Some actual Westwood Studios employees were still working with the studio. One of the senior modelers, who worked on Command & Conquer (1995), was part of the Command & Conquer: Generals (2003) team. [3]
EA Pacific was absorbed into EA Los Angeles in 2003. Some employees then went to Petroglyph Games.
Year | Title | Platform(s) |
---|---|---|
As Burst Studios | ||
1996 | Spot Goes to Hollywood | PlayStation |
Sega Saturn | ||
Toonstruck | DOS | |
1997 | Grand Slam | Microsoft Windows |
PlayStation | ||
Sega Saturn | ||
SubSpace | Microsoft Windows | |
As Westwood Pacific | ||
1998 | Golden Nugget 64 | Nintendo 64 |
2000 | Nox | Microsoft Windows |
2000 | Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 | Microsoft Windows |
As EA Pacific | ||
2003 | Command & Conquer: Generals | Microsoft Windows |
Westwood Studios, Inc. was an American video game developer, based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was founded by Brett Sperry and Louis Castle in 1985 as Brelous Software, but got changed after 2 months into Westwood Associates and was renamed to Westwood Studios when Virgin Games bought the company in 1992. The company was bought by Electronic Arts alongside Virgin Interactive's North American operations in 1998. In January 2003, it was announced that Westwood, alongside Westwood Pacific, would be merged into EA Los Angeles. The main studio location closed in March of that year.
Command & Conquer (C&C) is a real-time strategy (RTS) video game franchise, first developed by Westwood Studios. The first game was one of the earliest of the RTS genre, itself based on Westwood Studios' influential strategy game Dune II and introducing trademarks followed in the rest of the series. This includes full-motion video cutscenes with an ensemble cast to progress the story, as opposed to digitally in-game rendered cutscenes. Westwood Studios was taken over by Electronic Arts in 1998 and closed down in 2003. The studio and some of its members were absorbed into EA Los Angeles, which continued development on the series.
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the designers and programmers responsible for its games as "software artists". EA published numerous games and some productivity software for personal computers, all of which were developed by external individuals or groups until 1987's Skate or Die!. The company shifted toward internal game studios, often through acquisitions, such as Distinctive Software becoming EA Canada in 1991.
Frank Klepacki is an American musician and video game composer, best known for his work on the Command & Conquer series. Having learned to play drums as a child, he joined Westwood Studios as a composer when he was 17 years old. He has scored several games there, including the Lands of Lore series, Westwood Studios' Dune games, The Legend of Kyrandia series, Blade Runner, and the Command & Conquer series. His work in Command & Conquer: Red Alert won two awards.
Avalon Interactive Group, Ltd. was a British video game distributor based within Europe that formerly traded as the video game publishing and distributing division of British conglomerate the Virgin Group.
Command & Conquer: Red Alert is a 1996 real-time strategy video game in the Command & Conquer franchise, developed and published by Westwood Studios in 1996. The second game to bear the Command & Conquer title, Red Alert is the prequel to the original Command & Conquer of 1995, and takes place in the alternate early history of Command & Conquer when Allied Forces battle an aggressive Soviet Union for control over the European mainland.
Command & Conquer is a real-time strategy video game developed and published by Westwood Studios in 1995. Set in an alternate history, the game tells the story of a world war between two globalized factions: the Global Defense Initiative of the United Nations and a cult-like militant organization called the Brotherhood of Nod, led by the mysterious Kane. The groups compete for control of Tiberium, a mysterious substance that slowly spreads across the world.
Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty is a real-time strategy Dune video game developed by Westwood Studios and released by Virgin Games in December 1992. It is based upon David Lynch's 1984 film Dune, an adaptation of Frank Herbert's science fiction novel of the same name.
Command & Conquer: Renegade is a first- and third-person shooter video game developed by Westwood Studios and is part of the Command & Conquer series. It is the only Command & Conquer game that uses the first-person view. It was released on February 26, 2002 by EA Games. The game received generally favorable reviews from critics.
Brett Sperry is an American video game designer, a fine arts gallerist, and a professional photographer. He is also a leading developer of the Las Vegas arts community where he's made significant investments in property and infrastructure, primarily in the Downtown Las Vegas area.
Joseph David Kucan is an American video game developer, director, actor, screenwriter, and casting director for various gaming companies and films. He is a resident of Las Vegas, Nevada. He is well known for his role as Kane from the Command & Conquer series.
SAGE is a game engine used primarily for real-time strategy games developed by Westwood Studios and Electronic Arts. Earlier implementations of the engine were known as W3D while later versions were branded SAGE 2.0.
Intelligent Games Ltd was a British video game developer based in London. The company was established in 1988 as The Intelligent Games Co. by Matthew Stibbe, who was studying at Pembroke College in Oxford. Following his graduation and the releases of 'Nam 1965–1975 and Imperium, Stibbe relocated to London in 1992, where he incorporated Intelligent Games in 1993. He hired Imperium producer Kevin Shrapnell as director of development, who aimed for the company to develop "hit-driven, brand-led" games, among them a series of PGA Tour games and a tie-in to the film Waterworld. The latter attracted Westwood Studios, which worked with Intelligent Games on Dune 2000 and expansions for Command & Conquer: Red Alert. Relocating multiple times within London, Intelligent Games grew to 65 employees by 1999. That year, Westwood was unsuccessful in acquiring Intelligent Games but inspired Stibbe to want to leave the company. He sold it to Shrapnell, Cuss, and Neil Jones in June 2000 and departed that same year. Intelligent Games continued producing games, eventually eyeing the mobile and console markets, until running out of money in 2002. The company closed and all assets were liquidated in December 2002.
Edward Del Castillo is the Founder, Executive President, and Chief Creative Officer of Liquid Entertainment.
Danger Close Games was an American video game developer based in Los Angeles. The company was founded in March 1995 as joint venture between DreamWorks SKG and Microsoft under the name DreamWorks Interactive, with studios in Redmond, Washington, and Los Angeles.
Mark Skaggs is an American video game producer and executive. Skaggs is known for leading the team that created the Facebook game FarmVille for Zynga, leading the team that created CityVille. He served as Executive Producer and product lead for the PC real-time strategy games Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2, Command & Conquer: Generals, and The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth.
Command & Conquer: Remastered Collection is a remaster of the first two titles in the real-time strategy video game series Command & Conquer with rebuilt graphics and sound improvements, and bonus materials. It was developed by Petroglyph Games with Lemon Sky Studios, and published by Electronic Arts. It was released on June 5, 2020, for Origin and Steam. A physical edition intended for collectors was released by Limited Run Games.
Laura Miele is an American businesswoman who serves as President of EA Entertainment, Technology & Central Development, where she oversees Electronic Arts' studios other than those responsible for its sports titles. She formerly served as COO and Chief Studios Officer at EA. Under her tenure, the company has developed several games in the industry, including Battlefield, Star Wars, Need for Speed, The Sims, Bejeweled, Mass Effect, and the EA Sports portfolio.