EA Officially Announces Mercs Inc

Though Pandemic Studios is no more, their legacy will continue to live on with the third entry into the Mercenaries series.

Electronic Arts announced today that the Mercenaries series would be officially continuing. The title, Mercs Inc, currently has not solid release date nor a specific platform, though the Xbox 360 is a likely candidate.

Mercenaries was a property of Pandemic Studios, and with their closing, the title will be developed at the new home of Pandemic members, EALA.

Currently the game is in early stages of development, focused completely on conceptualizing ideas and exploring new creative ground. Nothing else is known about the title, though a leaked YouTube video shows some of the game in its early stages.

The video and the press release are available below.

Press Release

Pandemic Studios Announces ‘Mercs Inc’

All—New Entry in Popular ‘Mercenaries’ Franchise Begins Development at EALA

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Pandemic™ Studios, a division of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), today announced that an all-new game in the studio’s popular Mercenaries™ franchise is in early stages of development at EALA. ‘Mercs Inc’ (working title) is the latest entry in the action series first made popular by Mercenaries in 2005 and most recently by Mercenaries 2: World in Flames™. Mercs Inc will be the first Pandemic game to be developed by the studio at its new home in Playa Vista. Mercs Inc will also be the first Pandemic game released after the launch this December 8th of the award-winning World War II action-sandbox game, The Saboteur™.

“We are very excited to announce a new instalment in the popular Mercenaries series because it demonstrates our continued commitment to Pandemic’s rich catalogue of intellectual properties,” said Nick Earl, Senior VP and Group General Manager at EA. “From the studio at EALA, a core creative team is forging new ground and conceptualizing new ideas for this exciting franchise.”

The most imminent release from Pandemic Studios is the action sandbox game, The Saboteur which ships on December 8, 2009. The Saboteur stars Sean Devlin; a street-tough Irish race car driver trapped behind enemy lines in 1940s Nazi-occupied France. Motivated by revenge, Sean fights, climbs, and races through open-world Paris, sneaking into the heart of the Nazi operations and sabotaging their every move. The Saboteur will be available for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, the Xbox360® video game and entertainment system, and the PC. The Saboteur has been rated M by the ESRB with the following as descriptors: blood, intense violence, nudity, sexual themes, strong language. More information about The Saboteur, can be found at http://www.thesaboteurgame.com.

Platform(s) and ship date for Mercs Inc not announced. This game is not yet rated by the ESRB.

PixlBit