EA has backed away from its plan to build a new development studio in Vancouver, for reasons of poor financial performance in the face of global economic concerns.

The news follows a tumultuous week for the firm. Share prices dropped as far a 25 percent in the space of two days following EA’s announcement that it would miss its fiscal 2009 guidance, and that the company had to prepare for times ahead by shelving more projects and cutting more jobs in addition to the 600 redundancies it announced in October.

“These are challenging times, they're uncertain times for our industry and across the board,” an EA spokesperson told The Globe and Mail. “We continue to be firmly rooted in Vancouver.”

Planning for the 20,000 square foot facility began in late 2007, and was set to be erected in Vancouver’s Yaletown district. EA currently has a strong foothold in the Canadian city, with two development studios – Black Box and EA Canada (pictured) – already established there.

Source via Kotaku.