EA Digital Illusions CE AB (
trade name
A trade name, trading name, or business name, is a pseudonym used by companies that do not operate under their registered company name. The term for this type of alternative name is a "fictitious" business name. Registering the fictitious name w ...
: DICE) is a Swedish
video game developer based in
Stockholm. The company was founded in 1992 and has been a subsidiary of
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 ...
since 2006. Its releases include the ''
Battlefield
A battlefield, battleground, or field of battle is the location of a present or historic battle involving ground warfare. It is commonly understood to be limited to the point of contact between opposing forces, though battles may involve troops ...
'', ''
Mirror's Edge
''Mirror's Edge'' is an action-adventure platform game developed by DICE and published by Electronic Arts. It was released for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in 2008, and for Microsoft Windows in 2009. Set in a near-future city, the game follows th ...
'' and ''
Star Wars: Battlefront'' series. Through their
Frostbite Labs division, the company also develops the
Frostbite
Frostbite is a skin injury that occurs when exposed to extreme low temperatures, causing the freezing of the skin or other tissues, commonly affecting the fingers, toes, nose, ears, cheeks and chin areas. Most often, frostbite occurs in the ha ...
game engine.
History
Foundation and early years (1992–2000)
Digital Illusions was founded in May 1992 by Olof "Olle" Gustafsson, Markus Nyström,
Fredrik Liljegren and Andreas Axelsson, four friends and former members of The Silents, a
demogroup
Demogroups are teams of demosceners, who make computer based audio-visual works of art known as demos. Demogroups form a subculture collectively known as the demoscene.
Groups frequently consist of students, young computer enthusiasts who spend ...
that developed for
Amiga systems.
The four studied at
Växjö University
Linnaeus University (LNU) ( sv, Linnéuniversitetet) is a state university in the Swedish historical province (''landskap'') Småland, with two campuses located in Växjö and Kalmar respectively. Linnaeus University was established in 2010 b ...
, thus DICE was established in
Växjö
Växjö ( ) is a city and the seat of Växjö Municipality, Kronoberg County, Sweden. It had 70,489 inhabitants (2019) out of a municipal population of 95,995 (2021). It is the administrative, cultural, and industrial centre of Kronoberg County ...
.
Expansion (2000–2004)
In 2000, DICE acquired developer Refraction Games (developers of ''
Codename Eagle
''Codename Eagle'' is a first-person shooter video game developed by Refraction Games and published by Take-Two Interactive and TalonSoft. ''Codename Eagle'' was released initially in the United Kingdom in November 1999, and later in North Amer ...
'').
From the acquisition, DICE inherited the in-development ''
Battlefield 1942''.
Patrick Söderlund
Robert "Patrick" Söderlund is a Swedish businessman and video game executive. He was Executive Vice President in charge of Worldwide Studios at Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in ...
, who had founded Refraction Games in 1997, subsequently joined DICE as
chief executive officer
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...
. This was followed with the merger of Sandbox Studios in April 2001. Sandbox Studios added 50 employees to DICE's staff, amounting to 150 total employees. In September 2004, DICE also merged with
Trauma Studios
Trauma Studios was an American video game developer company founded in 2003. They were best known for having created '' Desert Combat'', a mod for '' Battlefield 1942''.[New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...]
. Trauma Studios employed nine people at the time.
Acquisition by Electronic Arts (2006–present)
In November 2004,
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 ...
(EA) announced their intent to purchase all outstanding shares in DICE at a price of per share, with the deal's closing deadline scheduled for 27 December. At the time, EA owned 18.9% in DICE. Initially, the offer was rejected by shareholders representing 28% of DICE's ownership on 15 December, after which EA adjusted its offer on 20 December, intending to only purchase 44.5% at the same price per share, extending the offer deadline to 20 January 2005. On 25 January 2005, shareholders agreed to the acquisition, and EA raised their ownership in DICE to 59.8%.
In March 2006, EA announced a new plan to acquire all outstanding shares in DICE for per share. The acquisition was completed on 2 October, with 2.6 million shares in DICE transferred to EA in exchange for a total of . Shortly following the acquisition, on 5 October, EA closed Digital Illusions Canada, DICE's
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
-based studio. The 25 employees working at the studio at the time were given the option to transfer to DICE's headquarters in Stockholm or any other EA studio. DICE co-founder Liljegren announced on 16 October that he established RedJade as a successor to Digital Illusions Canada.
In May 2013, EA opened a new
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
-based division for DICE known as DICE LA, helmed by former senior staff of EA's previously closed studio
Danger Close Games
Danger Close Games (formerly DreamWorks Interactive LLC and EA Los Angeles) was an American video game developer based in Los Angeles. The company was founded in March 1995 as joint venture between DreamWorks SKG and Microsoft (later moved to M ...
. DICE LA had generally been involved with support of DICE and other EA games and had not generated any title on their own. Vince Zampella of
Respawn Entertainment
Respawn Entertainment, LLC is an American video game development studio founded by Jason West and Vince Zampella. West and Zampella previously co-founded Infinity Ward and created the '' Call of Duty'' franchise, where they were responsible fo ...
(another EA studio) was named as the studio's new lead in January 2020. Zampella had indicated at this time that they would likely become separate from DICE, and change their name to reflect this. DICE LA announced their new name, Ripple Effect Studios, in July 2021, but otherwise under management by Zampella, and while they will finish work on ''
Battlefield 2042
''Battlefield 2042'' is a first-person shooter, developed by DICE and published by Electronic Arts. It is the twelfth main installment in the ''Battlefield'' series and was released on November 19, 2021, for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Win ...
'', will move in a new direction following its release.
On December 2, 2021, Electronic Arts announced that Vince Zampella, co-founder of Respawn Entertainment and head of Ripple Effect Studios, will oversee the ''Battlefield'' series going forward, with Ripple Effect leading the way in developing the franchise's "new experiences", instead of DICE. Along with the announcement, it was reported that DICE General Manager Oskar Gabrielson would be leaving EA, with Rebecka Coutaz, formerly Managing Director of
Ubisoft Annecy
Ubisoft is a French video game publisher headquartered in Montreuil, founded in March 1986 by the Guillemot brothers. Since its establishment, Ubisoft has become one of the largest video game publishers, and it has the largest in-house developme ...
, taking his place in the role.
Games developed
Notes
# Co-developed with Easy Studios
# Co-developed with Neowiz Games
# Cancelled in 1994 but eventually revived by Strictly Limited Games and released in 2019
References
External links
*
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{{Authority control
Battlefield (video game series)
Electronic Arts
Video game companies established in 1992
Video game companies of Sweden
Companies based in Stockholm
Video game development companies
2006 mergers and acquisitions
Swedish companies established in 1992