Despite the shuttering of its current Los Angeles-based office and a significant reduction in its workforce, Mercenaries and The Saboteur series developer Pandemic will live on through a "core team," studio owner Electronic Arts tells Shacknews.

"Pandemic Studios and its franchises will be relocated to the EALA facility in nearby Playa Vista," explained the company. "This move has resulted in a reduction in the work force at Pandemic...That said, the Pandemic brand and franchises will continue to live on. A core team of Pandemic developers will move to EALA and continue development on Pandemic games with a focus on quality, cost management and schedule integrity."

The consolidation is part of Electronic Arts' recently revealed cost reduction plan, which aims to save the company roughly $100 million through "the closure of several facilities and a headcount reduction of approximately 1,500 positions." EA acquired Pandemic alongside Mass Effect developer BioWare for $860 million back in 2007.

The fate of Pandemic's two unannounced projects remains unclear, with the studio's long-coming World War II stealth-action game The Saboteur due on December 8.

Update 2: Studio owner Electronic Arts has chimed in, explaining that "a core team of Pandemic developers will move to EALA" and continue the Pandemic brand.

Update: "It's official, pandemic is shut down as of today," reads a tweet from Pandemic's Drew Marlowe. "Thankfully it looks like we are getting decent severance."

More details, including an official statement, are expected shortly.

Original: Rumours are circulating that Pandemic Studios--the Los Angeles-based developer of the Mercenaries series and The Saboteur--is to be closed as part of EA's $100 million cost-cutting plan, first reported by Kotaku.

The majority of the studio's two hundred-odd staff will reportedly be informed today that the development and publishing giant intends to lay them off.

Further rumours suggest that one Pandemic team may survive the layoffs and join the EA Los Angeles campus--itself rumoured to be facing cuts in the form of the Command & Conquer 4 team. Pandemic's website lists two mystery "current projects."

Pandemic's open-world shooter sequel Mercenaries 2 suffered a lengthy development with several delays, though as of October 2008 it had sold 1.9 million copies and then-EA publishing COO John Pleasants declared "there will be a Mercenaries 3, and if I can have anything to do with it, there will be a Mercenaries 10... Read more

Pandemic has revealed the modest system requirements for The Saboteur, its open-world stealth-action shooter set during World of War 2 in Nazi-occupied Paris.

The Saboteur will sneak onto PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on December 8.

Required system specifications:

CPU: Core 2 Dual Core 2.4GHz or AMD equivalent
RAM: 2GB or more
Video: Nvidia Geforce 7800 GTX with 256MB of VRAM or ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro with 256MB of VRAM... Read more

Sometimes Sean "The Saboteur" Devlin needs to mix things up. Sure, it's fun to subtly plant explosives on a tower, but where's the instant gratification? No, for that, he'll need to snag that rocket launcher and take down a blimp or ambush a dock full of Nazis.

Inspired by the real-life exploits of Special Operations Executive agent and French Resistance ally William Grover-Williams, Pandemic's World War II stealth-action game The Saboteur hits PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on December 8.

New Saboteur screenshots and a trailer show the full range of Pandemic's open-world World War 2 stealth-action shooter, from sneaking around in disguise and sniping Nazis from the rooftops of occupied Paris to racing through the streets and exploding airships.

Colour will seep into the monochromatic world as the population becomes inspired by protagonist Sean's campaign against the occupying force, sparking a resistance and turning grey Paris gay once again.

The Saboteur is due to arrive for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on December 8.

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In a stark contrast from our last look as The Sabotuer, which included colorful nudity, this batch of screenshots details the dark and dreary look players will encounter before they start to bring out the local color, as it were, by ridding Paris of its Nazi tyrants. Developed by Pandemic, The Saboteur hits PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 on December 8.

Topless women and drawings of roosters mark our latest glimpse of The Saboteur, helping illustrate the totally not work safe interior of the Belle de Nuit club.

Pandemic's World War II stealth-action game hits PC, PS3 and 360 on December 8.

For a more work-appropriate walkthrough of the club, see this video... Read more

Excessive drinking, fast cars, climbing whatever, whenever--it seems that Saboteur hero Sean Devlin really knows how to bring out the local color, if you know what I mean.

And if you do, I'm sorry. That was terrible. See, Saboteur's black-and-white world regains color as Sean's Nazi-killing exploits restore hope and ...oh, nevermind, just look:

Developed by Pandemic, The Saboteur hits PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 on December 8.

As evidenced by the latest trailer for The Sabotuer, there's more to Sean here than just a blatant need for revenge against the Nazis. Our good ol' Irish boy seems to have a bit of a drinking habit, a penchant for colorful explosions, and a thing for Flogging Molly.

Developed by Pandemic, The Saboteur brings its "Will to Fight" mechanic (in which the world regains color as Nazis are defeated) to PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 on December 8.

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The next game out of Mercenaries and Destroy All Humans creator Pandemic will arrive in early December, as the studio today confirmed a December 8 date for The Saboteur.

Due out on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, the open-world World War II game sees players roaming the streets of Nazi-occupied France in the 1940s, with color returning to the world "both figuratively and literally" as protagonist Sean Devlin gains renown.

Following up on a marvellous Saboteur trailer last week, Pandemic has released new screenshots of its open-world stealth-action game set in World War 2 Paris. Be warned that one contains bare female bosoms, if folks around you love violence but hate boobs.

Saboteur slips onto PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 some time before March 31 2010.

The E3 trailer for Pandemic's open-world World War 2 stealth game illustrates the importance of proper corpse concealment when conducting your assassinations.

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Saboteur is set to arrive on PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in fall or winter of this year.

A mostly-fresh batch of screenshots and artwork from Pandemic's The Saboteur (PC, PS3, 360) have been released by owner EA, detailing more of the WW2 stealth game. While the majority of the assets are new, we've already seen two of the screenshots and some of the art. That said, the images are cleaner and higher-res than ever before.

In related news, those that pre-order the title from either EA or GameStop will receive an "exclusive" in-game Nazi dagger for "silent and swift" executions. Still no solid release date on the game, though it's supposed to hit before March 31, 2010.

Pandemic has launched a new website for its open-world World War II game The Saboteur, delivering screenshots and concept art from the long-in-development title. Set in Nazi-occupied Paris, the stealth-action game puts players on a quest to avenge their murdered family. The Paris of the 1940s is a place "where the women are sexy, the missions are epic, and the revenge is satisfying," writes Pandemic.

Though the site doesn't specify platforms, The Saboteur was in development for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 at last official word. It's set to arrive no later than March 31, 2010.

GameZone has an article format Saboteur interview, asking various folks at Pandemic about their open world stealth action game. Topics include setting, the Will To Fight mechanic, Pandemic's partnership with BioWare, fighting and use of vehicles.

IGN has a Saboteur Q&A posted, asking Pandemic's Trey Watkins and Phil Hong about this stealth action game. The two are asked about the main character Sean, the storyline, influences on the game, and NPCs.