Electronic Arts (EA) is the latest major video game company to experience layoffs this week. The announcement was made this Wednesday evening, where the company revealed that 5% of its staff, 670 employees, were set to be let go.
According to EA’s CEO Andrew Wilson, these layoffs were due to ongoing restructuring to better support their business.
“In this time of change, we expect these decisions to impact approximately 5 percent of our workforce. I understand this will create uncertainty and be challenging for many who have worked with such dedication and passion and have made important contributions to our company,” wrote Wilson. While not every team will be impacted, this is the hardest part of these changes, and we have deeply considered every option to try and limit impacts to our teams.”
Additionally, due to these restructuring plans, Wilson announced that EA was moving away from developing licensed IP games. That said, licensed games from Disney and Marvel will continue development.
“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,” Wilson continued.
The fallout of these layoffs has already begun to surface. According to IGN, shortly after the announcement EA’s Entertainment president Laura Miele revealed that Respawn’s Star Wars FPS action game was cancelled. Miele noted that some of the employees working on the game would be reassigned to other projects with Disney and Marvel.
“It’s always hard to walk away from a project, and this decision is not a reflection of the team’s talent, tenacity, or passion they have for the game,” wrote Miele. “Giving fans the next installments of the iconic franchises they want is the definition of blockbuster storytelling and the right place to focus.”
EA will also be cancelling will multiple mobile games, including F1 Mobile Racing, MLB Tap Sports, Kim Kardashian Hollywood and The Lord of the Rings: Heroes of Middle-earth. Lastly, IGN revealed that Ridgeline Games would be shutting down and that some of its employees were to be absorbed into into Ripple Effect.
EA joins PlayStation in this week’s layoffs within the gaming industry. As February ends around 8,177 people in the industry have been affected, and more are likely to follow.