EA opens DICE LA, will work on Star Wars IP

EA has just announced a new DICE studio based on Los Angeles, according to a fresh report in the Wall Street Journal. The studio will work on the Star Wars IP, which was recently farmed out to EA.

The WSJ article begins, "Electronic Arts, fresh off announcing it cut 10% of its workforce to trim costs, is investing in a new Los Angeles studio for its Stockholm-based DICE game developer with the goal of poaching talent from rivals like Activision Blizzard".

The article suggests that DICE will - in general - be a 'key cog' in EA's plans for the star Wars IP, and that the new LA outfit will "help with recruiting talent". DICE's general manager Karl-Magnus Troedsson told the site, "There is an extreme talent pool over that we want a part of. It's no secret that our main competitor is there," in reference to Activision studios Treyarch and Infinity Ward.

Troedsson added that DICE LA hopes to add 60 staff by the end of 2013, and that DICE needs to expand after the success of Battlefield 3. Members of Medal of Honor studio Danger Close have been employed at DICE LA already, as well as 'outside talent'.

He added that EA is considering either making brand new Star Wars stories in its games, or expanding on stories already out there in the canon.

Intrepid internet snooper Superannuation also added on Twitter:

When the Star Wars-EA deal was announced, the publisher announced that DICE, Visceral Games and BioWare would be making Star Wars games. Today's announcement could mean that the DICE game is actually the first project for DICE LA.

What do you make on the above?