BioWare & Pandemic To Be Elevated

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GameSpot is reporting that the venture capital firm Elevation Partners is making a whopping $300 million investment in independent developers BioWare and Pandemic Studios, creating a holding company called BioWare/Pandemic Studios. U2 frontman Bono is part of Elevation Partners, as is former EA president John Riccitiello. He will become the CEO of the new holding company. The money being invested in the two companies means both can work on additional properties, without being dependent on publishers. Elevation Partners was on the verge of acquiring Eidos earlier this year, before SCi outbid the company.
"Some developers have chosen the path of selling to publishers and that's a viable path," [Pandemic co-founder Josh] Resnick told GameSpot. "We have specifically chosen not to go down that route because it was important for us to maintain our independence. You know we really look for inspiration in companies like Pixar, because they're able to remain independent from distribution partners and increase their focus on creating great products."
However, [BioWare co-founder Ray] Muzyka told GameSpot that the deal does not mean BioWare/Pandemic will abandoning its strong ties to its publishing partners. "They might feel threatened by something like this, but we absolutely see the reverse," he told GameSpot. "We really do look at this new venture as a means to improve our ability to deliver a great product--and that's always good for our publishing partners."

1UP has a Q&A about this deal.

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From The Chatty
  • reply
    November 3, 2005 4:14 AM

    Has to be a good thing that more developers are being able to publish their own games?

    • reply
      November 3, 2005 4:47 AM

      They aren't publishing, they are still just devs.

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