Following up on earlier rumors of Pandemic Studios' closure, Kotaku reports that an internal Electronic Arts memo has confirmed the studio's fate.

Rumor has it that Electronic Arts will be adding more people to its list of cut employees. The target? Pandemic Studios.

Electronic Arts has now released an official statement in response to the circulating rumors that  they have let go Pandemic Studios in Brisbane, Australia. While they did admit that their upcoming job cuts will affect studios, they did not divulge any more specific details about it.

As rumors would have it, Electronic Arts has shut down the Brisbane, Australia office of Pandemic Studios. Says a "reliable source", the shut down was more of a "find a new publisher" thing, rather than a "sorry, we'll have to kill you off" scenario.

For an LotR game, LotR: Conquest is looking rather spiffy. Imagine controlling the mighty Balrog as you raze the Shire down to the ground! Oh, joy! Scream, pesky hobbitses! Scream! Yeah, being evil was never this fun! Check out the full article for a developer diary with Pandemic Studios, talking about the Evil campaign. More gameplay clips included!

You know you can never go wrong with an LotR game that lets you play as an Ent. I mean - how cool is that?! Yay for spreading wanton destruction as a walking, talking tree! Watch out for next year then: Pandemic Studios just announced over the presswire that LotR: Conquest will be released simultaneously for the PS3, Xbox 360, PC, and DS on January 9 of next year. Check out a new trailer (and some old screens) in the full article.

Eyebrows were raised when word of Electronic Arts filing for a loan to support its campaign to acquire Take-Two Interactive broke out. However, if there's one guy who wasn't surprised, it's the good 'ol Michael Pachter who claims he knows exactly why such loan was necessary. Find what he has to say at the full article.

In a recent interview with GameTap, Peter Moore stated his intentions to take Electronic Arts from an "American" brand to a global one. Although EA continues to be popular within the US and without, Moore feels that it doesn't "feel local" to the European and Asian market.

Moore, President of EA, also mentioned last week how EA Sports is looking at cricket as a sport, perhaps as a hint of more things to come to make the brand more global, or depending on your point of view, local to your country. As Moore explains:

I talked a lot [...] about cricket, tennis, mixed martial arts, open-wheel racing [...] all of which can make a difference in the way people perceive us. [...] We don't have that depth and penetration into the psyche of the European sports consumer. We need to change that, and we need to change that quickly.

The goal is to let consumers outside of the US to relate more to the games they play and not just feel like a "brand that has been exported." (Well, when in Rome, people say poh-tah-toh. Or is it the other way around?) At any rate, EA's recent acquisition of Bioware and Pandemic Studios should help broaden their horizons.

Check out the Read link for the full interview.

Speaking with Eurogamer, Scott Warner revealed that once Pandemic Studios were done with Mercenaries 2 anything is possible - even a handheld version of the game. Here's Scott Warner's words:

At the moment we're only concentrating on the versions of the game we've announced, but I'd love for us to work on a handheld version of Mercs! Anything's possible!

What has Pandemic Studios currently busy at the moment is Mercenaries 2: World in Flames, which is being custom built for next-gen consoles, the PC, and the PS2. After they're done with that game, we just might see more Mercenaries for the PSP or the DS.

Mercenaries 2 is set to feature fully destructible environments and is set to look a lot like Venezuela.

This combination of destruction and Venezuela is something that the aforementioned country doesn't seem to like - heck they even asked Bono to do something about it.

Anyhow, all the mercenary focus on next-gen platforms (and Venezuela) should end by Winter, as Mercenaries 2: World in Flames game is set to be released by then. Will we see a PlayStation Portable version of Mercenaries? We certainly hope.

Recently, John Riccitiello stepped down from his position as CEO of VG Holdings to become the CEO of Electronic Arts, a post he left  in 2004 to co-found Elevation Partners, responsible for the merger of BioWare/Pandemic Studios. Although Riccitiello's new appointment will take place this coming April 2, analysts are already saying that Riccitiello's appointment is a good thing for Electronic Arts. 

In a note to investors, Lazard Capital Markets said that, 

Overall, we view the appointment as a positive given Mr. Riccitiello’s tenure in the video game business, familiarity with Electronic Arts, and prior CEO-level experience. While it is too early to judge what impact there will be on the company (and the executive ranks) as a result of the appointment, we believe Mr. Riccitiello is well respected within the company and the industry.

Electronic Arts continues to be profitable for investors, and a giant in the gaming industry.