Electronic Arts announces layoffs and cancels Star Wars game | 0F37F6V | 2024-03-01 10:08:01
One other day, another round of mass layoffs in the games industry. Digital Arts (EA) has introduced it should cut around five percent of its employees, putting virtually 700 individuals out of a job. It's also cancelling video games and shutting down at the least one improvement studio.
EA CEO Andrew Wilson announced the layoffs in an e-mail to staff, which was subsequently posted to the company's blog on Wednesday.&
"[W]e are streamlining our firm operations to ship deeper, extra related experiences for fans all over the place that construct group, form culture, and develop fandom," stated Wilson. "In this time of change, we anticipate these selections to impression approximately 5 % of our workforce."
Based on EA's 2023 annual report, the corporate employed roughly 13,400 individuals as of the top of March last yr. Five % of that's 670 individuals.
"[W]e will help and work with every colleague with the utmost attention, care, and respect," wrote Wilson — a wordy euphemism for laying them off.&
Skirting specific phrases reminiscent of "layoff," "minimize," and "discount in headcount," Wilson said that EA would attempt to shift employees to new tasks or roles earlier than it lets them go. Conversations with impacted staff have already begun, and are expected to conclude round April. Even so, it's doubtless that many individuals will find themselves with no job.
This is the second mass layoff EA has announced in less than a yr. In a similar blog post last March, Wilson revealed that the company would reduce six % of its workforce at the time, amounting to almost 800 people.
EA shifting away from licensed IPs
Employees cuts aren't the only reductions at EA. In addition to "persevering with to optimize our international real estate footprint" AKA shrinking its office area, the corporate is cancelling or discontinuing some of its improvement studio's titles. Notably, this consists of shifting focus away from games based mostly on licensed mental properties (IP), as EA apparently sees little future in them.
"We're also sunsetting video games and shifting away from improvement of future licensed IP that we don't consider might be successful in our altering business," stated Wilson.
In line with the CEO, this variation will permit EA to give attention to its "largest opportunities — including [the company's] owned IP, sports, and large on-line communities."
This doesn't suggest the corporate is cancelling all EA Studios video games that are based mostly on external licensed IP. Cliffhanger Games' Black Panther title and Motive Studio's Iron Man recreation remain in development for now, although the developers won't really feel too reassured by Wilson's statements.
EA confirmed the continued improvement of those video games in a press release to Mashable, but declined to comment additional.
Nevertheless, EA has cancelled the Star Wars first-person shooter that Respawn Entertainment had been creating. Respawn is the studio behind Apex Legends and the Star Wars Jedi collection, franchises it is now being directed back toward.
"As we have looked at Respawn's portfolio over the previous few months, what's clear is the games our players are most excited about are Jedi and Respawn's wealthy library of owned brands," said EA Entertainment and Technology president Laura Miele. "Understanding this, we now have decided to pivot away from early improvement on a Star Wars FPS Action recreation to focus our efforts on new tasks based mostly on our owned brands while offering help for present games."
EA's choice to eschew licensed IP additionally extends to its cellular games, with the corporate having previously announced that it is discontinuing Kim Kardashian Hollywood, Lord of the Rings: Heroes of Middle-earth, MLB Faucet Sports activities Baseball, and F1 Cellular.&
"These games have entertained many people through the years, and it is the appropriate time to focus our time on the remaining games in our portfolio which we consider can grow," stated Miele. "We now have some great titles, and I am optimistic about the place we will take our vital library of owned IP."
Sadly, even engaged on company-owned IP does not guarantee safety from the layoffs, with not all of EA's studios having survived the cull. U.S. developer Ridgeline Studio shall be shut down utterly, with studio head and Halo co-creator Marcus Lehto having already made the personal decision to leave. Initially unveiled in September 2022, Ridgeline had been targeted on creating a brand new story set in the Battlefield universe. Now that duty has been shifted to Criterion Games, whereas Ridgeline will close with out ever having shipped a recreation.
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The news of EA's layoffs comes just someday after PlayStation announced it would cut around 900 of its own employees, including employees at well-known improvement studios reminiscent of Naughty Canine, Insomniac Video games, and Guerrilla Video games. A running tally by Kotaku calculates that over 8,00zero individuals within the video games business have been laid off up to now two months alone. That is simply 1,00zero off estimates on the variety of video games business staff minimize throughout all of 2023 — a year which was already defined by mass layoffs in games.
UPDATE: Mar. 1, 2024, 10:10 a.m. AEDT This text has been updated with remark from EA.
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