Electronic Arts Lays Off 5% Of Its Global Workforce As Part Of Second Major Restructuring In Two Years
Like so many developers this year, video game giant Electronic Arts (EA) has confirmed that it will be laying off staff, roughly 5% of its global workforce or approximately 670 individuals.
In a company-wide letter, EA CEO Andrew Wilson explained that the layoffs are part of a more extensive restructuring that will include sunsetting some live service titles and canceling the development of ongoing projects, particularly those based on licensed IPs. Wilson said that EA Will focus more on owned IPs going forward.
We are also sunsetting games and moving away from the 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.
It also appears that at least one studio closure is part of the restructuring. Seattle-based Ridgeline Games, which was working on a single-player Battlefield game, has been shuttered. News of the studio’s closure was confirmed on X by co-founder Marcus Lehto, who left the company last week, citing personal reasons.
According to Wilson, EA’s restructuring should be mostly completed by early next quarter. His full letter to the company’s employees can be read here.
Although the CEO didn’t name any specific development titles that have been canned, EA Entertainment president Laura Miele later confirmed that the company has canceled work on a Star Wars first-person shooter that was being developed by Respawn Entertainment. In a statement, she explained:
As we’ve looked at Respawn’s portfolio over the last few months, what’s clear is the games our players are most excited about are Jedi and Respawn’s rich library of owned brands. Knowing this, we have decided to pivot away from early development on a Star Wars FPS Action game to focus our efforts on new projects based on our owned brands while providing support for existing games.
This is the second major restructuring at EA in as many years. Last March, the company laid off 6% of its workforce, around 775 employees.
The games industry is hemorrhaging jobs right now, with many of the biggest companies laying off significant numbers of employees. Earlier this week, Sony revealed it was letting go 900 employees from its Playstation unit, 8% of the group’s global workforce. Before that, Microsoft let go 1,900 workers (8% of its workforce) at Xbox and Activision Blizzard, Unity Software laid off 1,800 (25%), Riot Games laid off 530 (11%), and Embracer Group laid off 97 (20%) at Eidos Montreal.