Elevation Partners Invests $300 Million in Merger of BioWare, Pandemic Studios

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 3, 2005 - 3:39am.

Menlo Park, Calif. - Elevation Partners, a venture capital firm whose principals include U2's Bono and former Electronic Arts president John Riccitiello, announced on Thursday that it has invested $300 million into the merger of two independent game developers, BioWare and Pandemic Studios. The deal will create a new holding company, BioWare/Pandemic Studios, which will be jointly owned by the three companies and headed by Elevation Partners managing director John Riccitiello. Based in Los Angeles and Brisbane, Australia, Pandemic will continue to develop action/adventure titles like "Full Spectrum Warrior," "Star Wars Battlefront" and "Destroy All Humans," while Edmonton, Canada-based BioWare will maintain focus on roleplaying titles such as "Baldur's Gate" and "Neverwinter Nights." "Great video games don't roll off the assembly line -- they are an art form, as lovingly crafted as a film, musical score, or novel," said BioWare CEO Greg Zeschuk. "Fans are the real winners in this deal, because we will now have the resources and creative discretion to make the right decisions for our products." Immediate plans for the funds are to utilize them in the development of titles for next-generation game consoles.
http://tinyurl.com/a498z
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=12719
http://www.elevation.com
http://bioware.pandemicstudios.com