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DICE (company)

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EA Digital Illusions CE
Company typeSubsidiary of Electronic Arts
IndustryComputer and Video game
Founded1988
HeadquartersSweden Stockholm, Sweden
Key people
Fredrik Liljegren (Founder), Andreas Axelsson (Founder), Olof Gustafsson (Founder), Patrick Söderlund (General Manager)
Revenue147 million SEK
Number of employees
200+
ParentElectronic Arts, Inc
Websitehttp://www.dice.se
For other uses of "DICE", see Dice (disambiguation).

EA Digital Illusions Creative Entertainment AB (EA DICE) is a Swedish video game developer, wholly owned by Electronic Arts, best known for the Battlefield video game series.

History

DICE was started by Fredrik Liliegren (a.k.a. Animal / TSL) and Andreas Axelsson (a.k.a. Goofy / TSL), members of the former demo group The Silents.[1][2] All original members came from the small town of Alvesta in Sweden. The Silents' work is still visible in some DICE games. For example, The Silents used the acronym TSL; this acronym is visible in Motorhead on banners and signs. According to the Motorhead manual, TSL is said to stand for "Trans-atlantic Speed League", a case of a backronym.

For an extended period of time, while the employees were also students at Växjö University, the company's office consisted of a small dorm room. During those days the company developed popular pinball games for the Amiga computers, such as Pinball Dreams, Pinball Fantasies and Pinball Illusions. The company moved to Gothenburg in 1994 where it was head-quartered until 2005.

File:Dice.gif
The old DICE logo

In 1998 the company was registered on the Swedish stock exchange and has since experienced tremendous growth. Although Codename Eagle received a small cult following, the biggest break for DICE was the release of Battlefield 1942 and its sequels and expansions. The Battlefield series jumpstarted their popularity. In 2004 the total value of the company was estimated at approximately USD$55 million.

Expansion

In January 2000, the company bought Refraction Games and 90% of Synergenix Interactive. This was followed in March 2001 by the acquisition of Sandbox Studios in London, Ontario, Canada.

EA's acquisition

In November 2004, Electronic Arts announced their intent to purchase all outstanding shares in Digital Illusions CE at a price of 61 SEK per share. The board of directors of Digital Illusions CE recommended that the company's shareholders accept the offer. Electronic Arts owned 62 percent of Digital Illusions CE on March 31 2005.

On October 2 2006 EA completed the acquisition for 67.50 SEK per share for 2.6 million shares, for a total of 175.5 million SEK. Digital Illusions CE was renamed EA Digital Illusions CE,[3] and CEO Patrick Söderlund became an EA Studio General Manager.[4] DICE Canada was closed down immediately upon acquisition.[5]

Games

Amiga

Microsoft Xbox

Microsoft Xbox 360

Nintendo Game Cube

Nintendo Game Boy Advance

Nintendo Game Boy Color

PC (DOS and Microsoft Windows)

Sony PlayStation

Sony PlayStation 2

Sony PlayStation 3

Sega Saturn

References

  1. ^ "The Silents (TSL)". Amiga Music Preservation. Retrieved 2008-05-08.
  2. ^ "Digital Illusions". 4Sceners.de. Retrieved 2008-05-08.
  3. ^ "Digital Illusions CE". TeamXbox. 2006-10-02. Retrieved 2008-04-13.
  4. ^ Graft, Kris (2006-10-02). "EA Officially Picks Up DICE". Next-Gen.biz. Retrieved 2008-05-08. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ Boyer, Brandon (2006-10-05). "EA Closes DICE Canada Offices". Gamasutra. Retrieved 2006-10-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
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