While EA hasn’t made it official quite yet, there’s enough reaction and word emerging to conclude that the rumors circulating earlier this morning are true, and that Pandemic Studios is being closed.

My first reaction was to revisit a piece written by Chris Lepine when EA originally sought to purchase Pandemic and Bioware, which has unfortunately managed to hold fairly true, insofar as Pandemic is concerned. Sadder still that I never doubted that it would.

But this became a cynical viewpoint during EA’s public image overhaul, when plenty of people were happy to proliferate the idea that “hating EA is so last year,” and the company was portrayed as an important player in the development of new IPs. Which produced one legitimately important title, that was immediately recoiled from in favor of safer roads.

Turns out some trends never go out of style, and what was hot in previous years is free to resurface again.

There are no signs that this will affect the release of Pandemic’s new IP, The Saboteur, which is slated to hit shelves on December 8.