Editing Westwood Studios (section)

===Acquisition by EA and liquidation===
In August 1998, Westwood and sister company [[EA Pacific|Burst Studios]] was [[List of acquisitions by Electronic Arts|acquired by Electronic Arts]] for $122.5&nbsp;million from [[Virgin Interactive]]'s North American operations, which EA also acquired. At the time, Westwood games had a 5% to 6% share of the PC game market, especially the ''[[Command & Conquer]]'' franchise was considered very valuable.<ref name="wwbuyout">{{cite web|last=Morris |first=Chris |date=August 17, 1998 |access-date=October 24, 2016 |title=Electronic Arts buys Westwood Studios |url=https://money.cnn.com/1998/08/17/life/q_ea/ |website=[[CNNMoney]] |publisher=[[CNN]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160529005517/http://money.cnn.com/1998/08/17/life/q_ea/ |archive-date=May 29, 2016 }}</ref> The 50,000 square foot building in Las Vegas included motion capture facilities, comfortable offices and was considered a showcase for the industry.<ref>Dan Lee Rogers: [https://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/130449/the_end_game_how_top_developers_.php The End Game: How Top Developers Sold Their Studios - Part One] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170923193804/https://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/130449/the_end_game_how_top_developers_.php |date=2017-09-23 }}, March 3, 2004, [[Gamasutra]]</ref> According to Westwood Studios designer and programmer [[Joe Bostic (Game Developer)|Joe Bostic]], Electronic Arts did not interfere with Westwood's operations primarily due to Westwood co-founder Brett Sperry's efforts in keeping the corporate cultures of the two companies separate, but eventually Westwood succumbed to wishes that every game had to be a hit.<ref name="Bostic2018AAInterview">{{cite web |date=August 31, 2018 |access-date=December 16, 2018 |title=Joe Bostic (Westwood Studios) - Interview |url=https://www.arcadeattack.co.uk/joe-bostic/ |website=Arcade Attack |archive-date=December 17, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181217023238/https://www.arcadeattack.co.uk/joe-bostic/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The last games ''[[Command & Conquer: Renegade]]'' and ''[[Earth & Beyond]]'' did not meet expectations of the publisher.<ref name="GameSpy"/><ref>Chris Morris: [https://money.cnn.com/2003/03/04/commentary/game_over/column_gaming/ Electronic Arts' online folly Gaming powerhouse has been unable to transfer its success to the online world] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804090922/https://money.cnn.com/2003/03/04/commentary/game_over/column_gaming/ |date=2020-08-04 }}, March 4, 2003, CNN Money</ref> In January 2003, EA announced their intent to close Westwood, as well as [[EA Pacific]], and merge them into [[EA Los Angeles]] as part of a consolidation plan.<ref name="close">{{cite web|last=Parker|first=Sam|url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/ea-consolidates-studios-closes-westwood/1100-2909852/|title=EA consolidates studios, closes Westwood|website=[[GameSpot]]|publisher=[[CBS Interactive]]|date=January 30, 2003|access-date=September 23, 2017|archive-date=June 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200612213056/https://www.gamespot.com/articles/ea-consolidates-studios-closes-westwood/1100-2909852/|url-status=live}}</ref> This move included "significant layoffs" for Westwood, which at the time employed 100 people, while the remaining people were given the option to transfer to the Los Angeles studio or EA's headquarters.<ref name="close" /> Most employees were let go by January 31, while some staff stayed with Westwood transitionally until it was fully closed on March 31, 2003.<ref name="close" /> Some formed [[Petroglyph Games]] in April 2003, while another three (Brett Sperry, Adam Isgreen and Rade Stojsavljevic) formed a [[Video game developer|development studio]] called Jet Set Games in 2008, both based in [[Las Vegas, Nevada]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Callaham|first=John|url=http://news.bigdownload.com/2009/02/02/westwood-games-co-founder-launches-jet-set-games/|title=Westwood Games co-founder launches Jet Set Games|date=February 2, 2009|website=Big Download|
access-date=October 27, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150130103447/http://news.bigdownload.com/2009/02/02/westwood-games-co-founder-launches-jet-set-games/|archive-date=January 30, 2015}}</ref>