Digital Arts has introduced that it, too, is present process mass layoffs, with plans to let go 5% of its whole world employees, or roughly 670 people.
In a notice immediately despatched to employees, CEO Andrew Wilson mentioned that EA is reacting to “accelerating business transformation the place participant wants and motivations and adjusted considerably.” Crucially, EA additionally mentioned that it’s “transferring away from the event of future licensed IP.” EA at present has a number of confirmed Star Wars and Marvel video games in growth, together with a 3rd Jedi recreation, Black Panther, and Iron Man.
We have since realized that EA is canceling Respawn’s Star Wars FPS, which was introduced final yr however had not but been totally revealed.
In line with Wilson, EA will double down on owned IP, sports activities, and “large on-line communities.” Whereas Wilson didn’t present particulars on which video games can be sundown, EA already introduced it will be shuttering two cell video games: F1 Cellular Racing and MLB Faucet Sports activities.
“This larger focus permits us to drive creativity, speed up innovation, and double down on our greatest alternatives — together with our owned IP, sports activities, and big on-line communities — to ship the leisure gamers need immediately and tomorrow. Lastly, we’re streamlining our firm operations to ship deeper, extra linked experiences for followers in every single place that construct neighborhood, form tradition, and develop fandom,” Wilson wrote.
IGN understands that these layoffs will affect quite a few groups throughout EA, largely affecting help groups. Whereas some builders may even be impacted, EA largely hopes to maneuver them off of canceled initiatives and onto different groups. Per Wilson, these modifications are already being communicated, and can “largely” be accomplished by early subsequent quarter.
“I perceive it will create uncertainty and be difficult for a lot of who’ve labored with such dedication and keenness and have made necessary contributions to our firm,” wrote Wilson. “Whereas not each group can be impacted, that is the toughest a part of these modifications, and we’ve deeply thought of each choice to try to restrict impacts to our groups. Our main objective is to offer group members with alternatives to seek out new roles and paths to transition onto different initiatives. The place that’s not attainable, we are going to help and work with every colleague with the utmost consideration, care, and respect.”
One other blow to the video games business
This marks yet one more main blow to the video games business coming off of a yr and a half of ongoing mass layoffs at studios of all sizes. The cuts impacted roughly 10,000 builders in 2023, and are approaching 8,000 in simply the primary two months of 2024. Simply earlier this week, PlayStation laid off 900 employees and closed its London studio, whereas Die Intestine Fabrik shut down and Supermassive laid off 90.
Whereas many have recommended this wave of mass cuts is going on as a result of firm overspending and overhiring throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, recreation builders have recommended a myriad of different explanation why this proceed to occur. These embrace poor funding choices from firm leaders, struggles across the rising measurement, scope, and expense of creating video games, and a scarcity of long-term planning for the ebbs and flows of the video games enterprise.
Wilson’s full notice may be discovered under.
Workforce,
We’re entertaining, inspiring, and connecting extra individuals with extra content material and deeper experiences than ever earlier than. Over the past yr, we’ve organized our firm to additional empower our artistic leaders to ship our strategic priorities of entertaining large on-line communities, telling blockbuster tales, and harnessing the facility of neighborhood in and round our video games. These actions have positioned us to construct larger, bolder experiences for a whole lot of hundreds of thousands of gamers and followers world wide.
We’re additionally main via an accelerating business transformation the place participant wants and motivations have modified considerably. Followers are more and more participating with the biggest IP, and seeking to us for broader experiences the place they’ll play, watch, create content material, and forge deeper connections. Our business exists on the slicing fringe of leisure, and in immediately’s dynamic surroundings, we’re advancing the best way we work and persevering with to evolve our enterprise.
As an organization filled with creators and storytellers, we imagine within the worth of groups innovating collectively, and proceed to study and undertake new methods of collaborating to develop and serve our world communities. Given how and the place we’re working, we’re persevering with to optimize our world actual property footprint to greatest help our enterprise. We’re additionally sunsetting video games and transferring away from growth of future licensed IP that we don’t imagine can be profitable in our altering business. This larger focus permits us to drive creativity, speed up innovation, and double down on our greatest alternatives — together with our owned IP, sports activities, and big on-line communities — to ship the leisure gamers need immediately and tomorrow. Lastly, we’re streamlining our firm operations to ship deeper, extra linked experiences for followers in every single place that construct neighborhood, form tradition, and develop fandom.
On this time of change, we count on these choices to affect roughly 5 % of our workforce. I perceive it will create uncertainty and be difficult for a lot of who’ve labored with such dedication and keenness and have made necessary contributions to our firm. Whereas not each group can be impacted, that is the toughest a part of these modifications, and we’ve deeply thought of each choice to try to restrict impacts to our groups. Our main objective is to offer group members with alternatives to seek out new roles and paths to transition onto different initiatives. The place that’s not attainable, we are going to help and work with every colleague with the utmost consideration, care, and respect. Speaking these impacts has already begun and can be largely accomplished by early subsequent quarter.
I need to prolong my appreciation to everybody who has helped contribute to EA’s ongoing story. We’re a group that leans into our values to guide the way forward for leisure, and I stay up for what we are going to create collectively. Thanks for all that you just do.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Acquired a narrative tip? Ship it to rvalentine@ign.com.
