A lengthy conversation with Jeff Brown, Corporate Communications for Electronic Arts revealed a number of interesting points about the closure of Westwood Studios. Brown acknowledged that the company informed members of the Las Vegas, Nevada studio that they would either be transplanted (which are dependant on individuals accepting offers to move) to other studios or would be given severance packages. Brown said that the number of layoffs is fluid at this point and may not be entirely accurate. The exact number of employees moving onto other EA development studios or being let go has not been sorted out at this time. For some, Friday will be the last day of work as an employee of Electronic Arts, while many others moving forward with EA will stay on until March 31 when the studio is officially closed for good. Rumors of lockdowns at Westwood were not true, says Brown, who noted that it has never been EA’s policy to shut out employees during transitional periods such as this.

Brown pointed out that Westwood’s last major project, Earth and Beyond, shipped in October 2002, and with development of C&C Generals being done by EA Pacific, the studio didn’t have any major projects on the horizon. Brown closed out his comments on the matter by saying that the real story today should be that EA plans to stock its LA development studio with close to 200 employees consisting of mostly developers and support staff. In the next five years the LA studio will be the home of many of EA’s major marquee franchises and the company plans to add close to 300 more employees to handle them. ]”