Former studio boss Mark Jacobs shared a few of his thoughts on the EA closure of Mythic Entertainment earlier this week on Eurogamer.

Mythic Entertainment was more than any individual or game. It was made up of incredibly hard-working men and women who always did what they were asked. As a team, they never wavered in their commitment to making great games. I hope that if this is indeed the end of Mythic Entertainment, people don't forget the teams that worked so hard and treated their jobs as seriously and professionally as anybody could have wished. I will always remain incredibly proud of them all.

Well it was just a matter of time, but it's now official it seems EA has shutdown Mythic Entertainment. Kotaku has the news with more information on the topic.

EA has shut down Mythic Entertainment, the longtime video game studio most recently responsible for Warhammer Online and the Dungeon Keeper reboot for mobile platforms.

When reached by Kotaku, EA sent over the following statement:

"We are closing the EA Mythic location in Fairfax, Virginia, as we concentrate mobile development in our other studio locations. We are working with all impacted employees to provide assistance in finding new opportunities, either within EA or with other companies via an upcoming job fair".

Founded in 1995, Mythic also developed Dark Age of Camelot and a number of other online games including the popular MUD Dragon's Gate. Their most recent release, a microtransaction-heavy remake of the classic strategy game Dungeon Keeper, was received poorly by many gamers.

RPG Vault reports back from the EA Mythic Media Event with news of developments in Ultima Online, Dark Age of Camelot and Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning.

Based on Games Workshop's popular and influential property Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning is a persistent state world we've been tracking closely and with growing interest since it was announced in May of 2005. Among the initial facts revealed at that time was the roster of playable armies, a total of six divided evenly into two groups representing Order and Chaos. The former encompasses the sturdy Dwarves, the aristocratic Elves and the human Empire. Each of these is paired against an ancient enemy, the barbaric Greenskins, the menacing Dark Elves and the mutants of Chaos respectively. The team has rolled out more information about some of these than others, so when a message arrived containing an invitation to attend an EA Mythic media event where the game would be shown, our first thought was that new facts might be forthcoming.

Likewise, Ten Ton Hammer has their report online:

First up, however, were some opening comments about the current state of the game's development. Those on the fringes of the Warhammer Online community believe that the game is infused with player vs. player conflict, which could be a buzzkill for those into more cooperative gaming. Such a definition is slighting, since Mythic has set out to create a tribute to the attractively dark, bellicose lore that defines the Games Workshop IP. More than that, however, EA Mythic is striving to create a fuller realization of the Realm vs. Realm ("RvR") concept first manifested in the Mythic's premier MMORPG, Dark Age of Camelot. "When you look at the wonderful things we bring from the Dark Age of Camelot heritage combined with the Warhammer license - this glorious 25 year old license with millions of fans worldwide - and then the wonderful things we're doing as Mythic itself, all those things add up to what Warhammer Online is going to be," Senior Producer Jeff Hickman stated.

EA Mythic hits the road again with the 2007 Dark Age of Camelot and Ultima Online roadshows.

MMORPG.com's Dana Massey speculates on what might be next for Mythic Entertainment since it's purchase by Electronic Arts.

No one will deny that Electronic Arts has a less than stellar reputation in MMO circles. Two of their games - Earth and Beyond and Motor City Online - have died after launch. The Sims Online, an idea that could have broken new ground in the MMO-space is at best a niche product and Ultima Online was changed in many ways, not all for the better, after they purchased Origin. Thus, when they scooped up Mythic Entertainment earlier this year, the deal was met with some understandable skepticism.

To date, it seems like EA may have understood their mistakes. They've set the newly dubbed EA Mythic up as the head of their MMO operations. Both their surviving MMOGs, along with the current and upcoming Mythic games report through a single structure overseen by people who have had great success in this industry. The earliest indications seem to show that perhaps Electronic Arts has learned a lesson.

This week on Game/On, Dana Massey returns to the show to sit down for a one on one interview with Mythic Entertainment CEO Mark Jacobs regarding the recent announcement that Mythic will be acquired by Electronic Arts.

But that's not all. Garrett Fuller and Jon Wood discuss all things MMORPG, including the new statistics released by MMOGChart.com.

Next week, Garrett Fuller and Jon Wood will bring you one of their patented commentary shows.

You can hear the podcast at this link. It is available directly on the page, direct download as an mp3, RSS feed, iTunes, iPodder, or PodcastPickle.com.

Check back in week for a commentary epsiode of Game/On.

GameSpy: Let's start with the inevitable question: Does EA's history with MMOs (Motor City Online, Earth & Beyond, Ultima Online 2, et al) make you nervous at all?

Mark Jacobs: Not really. Keep in mind that as an independent, if we fail with a game, the results can be disastrous; knowing that there are consequences if we fail to deliver with WAR for EA isn't something that worries me. I prefer to focus on the fact that Origins delivered on Ultima Online and that EA has kept that game running, almost nine years since its launch. The other thing to keep in mind is that even though a number of EA online titles failed to deliver upon release, EA was willing to bankroll the development of a lot of online games -- and some very expensive ones at that -- at a time when the market wasn't nearly as mature (and profitable) as it is now. Nobody likes to fail, but at least EA had the courage to try to succeed, which is more than I can say for almost all the other publishers in this industry.

GS: Does Electronic Arts pick up Mythic's entire back catalog, including Dark Age of Camelot?

MJ: Absolutely. As part of the deal, obviously, EA looks at Camelot and goes 'this is a historically important franchise, one that is still a very popular one' and they are excited about the prospect of seeing what can be done with it going forward.

GS: Have you given up on being an independent game developer?

MJ: My dreams never revolved round being independent...my dreams revolved around making great games. It was always about making great games. At the beginning, nobody wanted us, nobody wanted Camelot. But our dream [at Mythic] has been, and remains, to simply make great games.