Electronic Arts has completed its $860 million acquisition of VG Holding Corp., owner of renowned development studios BioWare Corp. and Pandemic Studios.

With BioWare and Pandemic now officially part of the EA family, the two studios will produce ten new franchises based on six EA-owned properties. BioWare is currently known to be working on Dragon Age (PC), a Sonic the Hedgehog DS RPG, an untitled MMO strongly rumored to be set in the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic universe, with reports indicating that the other two entries in the planned Mass Effect (X360) trilogy and a sequel to Jade Empire (PC, Xbox) are on the wayas well. Read more »

LucasArts and BioWare today announced that they have signed an agreement to develop an "interactive entertainment product". Literally nothing else of note is mentioned in the press release, except that specifics will be unveiled at a later date and a website can be found at LucasArtsBioWare.com. However, this announcement comes a week after reports hit the internet that claimed BioWare Austin is working on an MMO set in the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic universe. At the time, a LucasArts representative would neither confirm or deny the existence of such a project. "BioWare's mission is to deliver the best story and character-driven games in the world, delivering powerful emotional experiences to our fans," said BioWare CEO Ray Muzyka. Added president Greg Zeschuk, "The collaboration with LucasArts allows us to combine our passion for creating high quality and innovative experiences with those of a company dedicated to bringing only the finest games to market."