Two more examples of what could be called Electronic Artsation- they have now taken over another games developer and created a new music company.

Electronic Arts is ever expanding and recently they have bought the rights to the Swedish games developer Digital Illusions, who created Battlefield 1942 and Shrek: Extra Large.

Electronic Arts have simply bought the full rights to DICE, having previously owned around nineteen percent of the company. The offer is set to close on December 27th.

"The game industry is entering a very challenging period of technology transition," said DICE's Chairman of the Board Torsten Larsson. "Making DICE a full partner with EA will strengthen DICE's ability to navigate the transition to the next generation of technology."

"At EA, we see this as an opportunity to accelerate the growth of a great studio team," said Rory Armes, General Manager of EA European Studios. "In the next five years, we hope to introduce new franchises and double the number of people working at this studio."

"This is a great opportunity for our company," said DICE's CEO Patrick Soderlund. "DICE will receive added resources, technology tools and expertise for meeting the challenges of the platform transition."

Never one to stop at just one company Electronic Arts and Cherry Lane Music have joint up to create 'Next Level Music LLC'. The new label will sign new artists, produce new music and further Electronic Art's catalogue of music.

Both of the companies will benefit from the deal. Electronic Arts will now have their own personal company to record music, sure to cut costs a bit, while Cherry Lane Music will have the entire Electronic Arts music catalogue.

"Video games have changed the way the world hears music and EA has led the way. We could not imagine a better partner in our new creative music venture than Cherry Lane. Together, we have the ability to acquire publishing catalogues of established artists and to sign and develop new artists and songwriters, providing them with unique opportunities for success,'" said Steve Schnur, Worldwide Executive of Music and Audio at EA.

"When it comes to interactive entertainment, EA is the best in the business. We like to think that we enjoy similar stature in the music publishing industry. The potential synergy is boundless," said Cherry Lane Music President, Aida Gurwicz. "EA's video game empire affords us a unique platform upon which to build a great and diverse music publishing company, tapping every genre of contemporary music. It is our shared goal to develop a music publishing company that will not only be pre-eminent in the video game industry but will rival the best in the music publishing industry. We're psyched and can't wait to 'get in the game.'"