EA Announces Sweeping Layoffs
Electronic Arts is planning to lay off about 700 people.
EA (Electronic Arts) just announced its plans to reduce its workforce by 6 percent, laying off more than 700 people. The news was shared by the company’s CEO, Andrew Wilson, following the shutdown of Apex Legends and the company’s delisting of some award-winning games. Unfortunately, this reflects the current state of the entire industry as layoffs and game cancelations continue ramping up.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the massive layoffs within EA come as part of the company’s restructuring plan, which also includes office space reductions and portfolio rationalizations. In an open letter to the company’s employees, Wilson praised the strength of the company, listing some of the company’s highest-earning titles, such as The Sims—the company announced a major expansion for the franchise—and Apex Legends, whose mobile version was recently shut down. Battlefield 2042, unsurprisingly, wasn’t listed as one of the company’s strong titles.
However, Wilson also stated that the company has to focus on more strategic priorities, which include building gaming experiences that aim to entertain massive online communities by offering gaming products equipped with social and creator tools — something similar to what most companies are doing right now. He added that the company is moving away from projects that aren’t aligned with its new vision and strategy, which explains why the mobile versions of Apex Legends and Battlefield were canceled a few months back.
With that said EA will continue its support for Battlefield 2042 and Madden 23, regardless of the restructuring. Unfortunately, this restructuring will also affect some of the company’s teams and staff, though Wilson didn’t actually specify which segments of EA’s workforce would be impacted by the layoffs. In the majority of cases, it’s the drones that suffer the most, while the higher-ups continue to drive the company towards greater profit margins, thus increasing the investors’ earnings and chief executives’ yearly bonuses.
Luckily, some employees were reassigned to other projects the company’s currently working on, such as Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, which is due to launch on April 28 for PC, PlayStation 5—which finally reemerged to the market—and Xbox Series X/S. Those affected by the layoff will receive severance pay, healthcare, and transition service, which is going to set EA back for some $200 million in charges. And Electronic Arts isn’t the only company laying off its workforce en-masse.
In fact, EA’s current restructuring plan affects somewhere between 700 and 800 people. Twitch previously terminated employment for 400 of its workers, Amazon fired approximately 9,000 employees, and Microsoft laid off 10,000, which affected some of its best releases, like Halo Infinite and the previously delayed Starfield. Other companies, such as Take-Two, Unity, Google, and several others, have followed suit with layoffs, citing macroeconomic uncertainty.
In most cases, big companies such as EA usually blame these uncertainties on slow growth or growth that didn’t fulfill the company’s projection for the upcoming fiscal year. Layoffs caused by slow growth don’t necessarily mean cost cuts, as explained above, but a way to maintain profit margins and earnings for those running the company.
