EA Black Box (formerly Black Box Games) was a

video game developer A video game developer is a broad term for a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a large ...

based in

Burnaby Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard I ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, founded in 1998 by former employees of

Radical Entertainment Radical Entertainment Inc. is a Canadian video game developer based in Vancouver. The studio is best known for developing '' The Simpsons: Hit & Run'', '' Prototype'' and '' Prototype 2'', as well as entries in the ''Crash Bandicoot'' franchise ...

and later acquired by

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the d ...

(EA). The developers are primarily known for the ''

Need for Speed ''Need for Speed'' (''NFS'') is a racing game franchise published by Electronic Arts and currently developed by Criterion Games, the developers of ''Burnout''. The series generally centers around illicit street racing and tasks players to com ...

'' and ''

Skate Skate or Skates may refer to: Fish *Skate (fish), several genera of fish belonging to the family Rajidae * Pygmy skates, several genera of fish belonging to the family Gurgesiellidae * Smooth skates or leg skates, several genera of fish belongin ...

'' series. It was renamed Quicklime Games during the development of '' Need for Speed: World'', but after a series of restructures it was shut down in April 2013.

History

Black Box Games had previously developed for game publishers such as

Sega is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...

Midway Games Midway Games Inc., known previously as Midway Manufacturing and Bally Midway, and commonly known as simply Midway, was an American video game developer and publisher. Midway's franchises included ''Mortal Kombat'', ''Rampage (series), Rampage'' ...

, and EA. In June 2002, during the development of '' Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2'', the firm was acquired by EA and became an entirely owned subsidiary of

EA Canada EA Vancouver (formerly known as EA Burnaby, then EA Canada) is a Canadian video game developer located in Burnaby, British Columbia. The development studio opened as Distinctive Software in January 1983, and is also Electronic Arts's largest and ...

. As a result of the acquisition the studio's name was changed to EA Black Box. In March 2003, the firm lacked space for their current projects and as a solution the top four floors of an office tower in downtown

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

were used for expansion. In March 2005, EA Black Box became an independent studio from EA Canada, but still owned by EA. On December 19, 2008, EA announced that it would be shutting down EA Black Box's

studio location and relocating operations to

facilities, as part of EA's worldwide consolidation plans. Officials stressed that EA Black Box would remain open, and said they expected the move to be completed by June 2009. The studio remained a part of the EA Games label, and was independent of the EA Sports studio also located within the Burnaby facility. In February 2012, EA confirmed a number off lay-offs at EA Canada and EA Black Box, and that they were transforming the studios towards "high-growth digital formats, including online, social gaming and free-to-play". EA declined to comment on whether EA Black Box's brand would remain. In July 2012, EA Black Box was renamed Quicklime Games during the development of PC game '' Need for Speed: World'', under which name it operated until its closure in April 2013. Responsibility for the ''Need for Speed'' franchise has been taken over by

Ghost Games EA Gothenburg (formerly known as Ghost Games) is a Swedish video game developer owned by Electronic Arts (EA) and located in Gothenburg. The studio used to have two other locations; one based in Guildford in the United Kingdom and another in ...

. The former employees of EA Black Box have spread around other game developers making racing games such as

Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Assassin's Creed'', ''Far Cry'', '' ...

's '' The Crew'' and

Slightly Mad Studios Slightly Mad Studios Ltd. is a British video game developer based in London. Founded in 2009, it is best known for the ''Project CARS'' series of racing games that it developed from 2015 until the series' discontinuation in 2022. Codemasters acq ...

' ''

World of Speed ''World of Speed'' is a massively multiplayer online action racing video game initially developed by Slightly Mad Studios and My.com and subsequently by Saber Interactive, for the PC platform. ''World of Speed'' was initially planned as a free-to- ...

''.

Games developed

References

External links

* {{Authority control Electronic Arts Companies based in Burnaby Video game development companies Defunct video game companies of Canada Canadian companies established in 1998 Canadian companies disestablished in 2013 Video game companies established in 1998 Video game companies disestablished in 2013 Defunct companies of British Columbia Canadian subsidiaries of foreign companies 1998 establishments in British Columbia 2013 disestablishments in British Columbia