Just a day after Sony laid off around 900 employees from its various PlayStation Studios including Insomniac Games and Naughty Dog, Electronic Arts has now followed with its own round of mass layoffs. The publisher recently revealed that it had let go of 670 employees from its 13,400 person staff or 5% of its overall work force. EA has also closed Ridgeline Games, a studio formed in 2021 to work on a future single-player Battlefield game.
EA CEO Andrew Wilson sent a letter out to employees yesterday confirming that at least 670 employees were being terminated amid a company restructure. Additionally, EA will stop work on the development of future licensed IP as the company does not believe that it will be successful in “changing the industry.”
The full statement from Wilson reads:
“Given how and where we are working, we are continuing to optimize our global real estate footprint to best support our business. We are also sunsetting games and moving away from development of future licensed IP that we do not believe will be successful in our changing industry. This greater focus allows us to drive creativity, accelerate innovation, and double down on our biggest opportunities — including our owned IP, sports, and massive online communities — to deliver the entertainment players want today and tomorrow.”
Speaking about the layoffs, Wilson says, “Our primary goal is to provide team members with opportunities to find new roles and paths to transition onto other projects. Where that’s not possible, we will support and work with each colleague with the utmost attention, care, and respect. Communicating these impacts has already begun and will be largely completed by early next quarter.”
EA says its restructuring plan is “expected to be substantially complete” by the end of the current calendar year.
Layoffs in the gaming industry are happening at an alarming rate. Earlier this year, Microsoft cut 1,900 jobs from its Xbox gaming division alongside League of Legends developer Riot Games which terminated 530 employees.
Source: Video Games Chronicle
