DICE Canada 'did not fit EA mould'

Former DICE Canada boss Fredrik Liliegren has told our sister site GamesIndustry.biz that he understands why EA closed the studio down, saying it "did not fit within the mould".

"I understand the decision that was taken by EA. The principals behind it are in line with their strategic objectives of centralising talent to maximise the creative output," Liliegren said.

"In light of that, DICE Canada did not fit within the mold of what EA wants to do and how EA wants to do things."

Following the closure, Liliegren teamed up with other former employees to establish Red Jade, a new art creation studio. Deals are already in place with two partners, one of which is EA, and Red Jade is working on a new title in the Battlefield franchise.

"I saw great opportunity to create a really great company, and at the same time being able to participate in a number of different games rather than one game at a time, so I built a business plan and executed it when EA took their decision," Liliegren explained.

"EA has been very good in this situation, offering everyone at DICE Canada opportunities to move forward either at Red Jade or within EA."

According to Liliegren, outsourcing is set to become more and more important for the games sector as it follows the examples of other entertainment industries.

"I believe that finally the games development process are starting to look at Hollywood and seeing the benefits of collaborating on development," he said.

"A company can only be so good at one thing, so I think we will see a lot more of a specialist development happening, where the creative aspect will happen in one spot then they will bring on the talent as needed.

"At this point I see art being the "easy" one to "hire" in, but I think we will start to see technology - middleware - being much more prominent as well," he concluded.