EA Los Angeles
Electronic Arts Los Angeles (EALA) is a former video game development studio owned by Electronic Arts, based in Southern California. Its history began in 1995 with the creation of DreamWorks Interactive (DWI), a company founded by DreamWorks SKG and Microsoft, amongst others, to produce video games based on major film franchises.
In 2000, Electronic Arts acquired DreamWorks Interactive and the studio gradually became Electronic Arts Los Angeles. A major reorganisation took place in 2003, when the teams from Westwood Studios, based in Las Vegas, Nevada, and those from EA Pacific, based in Irvine, California, were merged into EALA. The studio thus gained a large part of the expertise associated with the famous strategy franchise Command & Conquer.
During the summer of 2003, EALA moved into a new campus in the west of Los Angeles. Designed to accommodate several hundred developers and artists, the site also enabled Electronic Arts to recruit professionals from the Hollywood film industry.
EALA was then working on several major franchises from the EA Games catalogue, notably Medal of Honour, Command & Conquer, James Bond and The Lord of the Rings. In 2003, the studio was notably involved in the release of Medal of Honor: Rising Sun and developed Command & Conquer: Generals – Zero Hour, the expansion pack for Generals.
The year 2004 was particularly significant, with the release of Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault, GoldenEye: Rogue Agent and, above all, The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth, a strategy game designed by part of the team that had worked on Command & Conquer: Generals. Its success led to the development of The Battle for Middle-earth II, released in 2006, followed by its expansion The Rise of the Witch-King.
EALA then revived the Tiberium universe with Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars in 2007, accompanied that same year by Medal of Honour: Airborne. In 2008, the studio continued the franchise with the expansion Kane’s Wrath, before bringing back the other major branch of the series with Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3.
In 2009, Red Alert 3 received the standalone expansion Uprising. The following year, EALA developed Command & Conquer 4: Tiberium Twilight, released in 2010. Very different from previous instalments in terms of its gameplay mechanics, this title became the last Command & Conquer game developed under the name Electronic Arts Los Angeles.
From 2010 onwards, Electronic Arts gradually reorganised its teams in Los Angeles. The division dedicated to Medal of Honour was renamed Danger Close Games, whilst future development of Command & Conquer was entrusted to a new studio, Victory Games. This reorganisation thus marked the end of the EALA era in the history of the Command & Conquer franchise.
