Electronic Arts has confirmed rumours regarding the closure of Mercenaries and Saboteur developer Pandemic Studios.

The majority of the Los Angeles-based studio’s 200 staff have been let go, including founders Josh Resnick, Andrew Goldman and Greg Borrud, who served as president, CEO and vice president of product development respectively, the publisher told Joystiq.

"I want to make it clear that the Pandemic brand and franchises will live on," Nick Earl, EA Games Label senior vice president, wrote in an internal memo obtained by Kotaku. "In the months ahead, we will announce plans for new games based on Pandemic franchises.

"This type of change can be difficult. But the situation calls for us to act decisively, to take control of our destiny and to run a stronger, more focused development operation. That's how we will continue to make great games in our LA studios."

Earl added that the decision to close Pandemic was made to "improve our cost structure, ensure quality and build schedule integrity for this studio."