Electronic Arts is planning to lay off about 5% of its staff, i.e. about 670 employees. This is done in order to restructure the company and change its operating model. This became known from a memo distributed by EA CEO Andrew Wilson.
The news comes just a few days after EA announced a «small wave» of layoffs following the closure of two mobile games. It also became known that Electronic Arts is planning to «move away» from developing games based on licensed intellectual property, which, according to the company, «will not be successful in the (changing) industry».
EA also announced that as part of the wave of layoffs, it is closing its Ridgeline Games studio, the developer responsible for the single-player Battlefield. The development of single-player content in Battlefield will be transferred to Criterion, a studio better known for the Burnout and Need For Speed franchises. However, it worked on small parts of Battlefield V and Battlefield 2042.
In her public statement, EA Entertainment and Technology President Laura Miele indicated that Marcus Lehto’s departure had to some extent led to the decision to close Ridgeline.
*Marcus Lehto recently made a personal decision to leave the project,” she said. *To ensure continuity, we have immediately appointed Criterion leadership to oversee our single-player work.
As part of this change, we will cease to operate Ridgeline as a separate studio in Seattle, and some team members will join Ripple Effect. They will continue to work with the DICE, Ripple and Criterion teams to create the next Battlefield» experience.
In addition, as part of the restructuring, EA canceled a first-person game in the Star Wars universe developed by Respawn Entertainment. Earlier it was reported that this game was dedicated to the bounty hunter Mandalorian. This news came as a serious shock to those who worked on the project, which had already completed several levels and a vertical cut (a part of the game that is already being created with full processes and high quality, serving as a model for the remaining levels). The cancellation of the Mandalorian game was the result of a strategy to reduce the development of games based on licensed intellectual property, which usually requires significant license fees.
In recent days, more than a thousand employees in the gaming industry have lost their jobs. Recently it was reported that Sony to lay off about 900 PlayStation employees. ESL FACEIT is also cutting 15% of its staff. According to the announced figures, more than 8 thousand people were fired from the gaming industry in the first 2 months of 2024. Last year, about 10 thousand employees were dismissed in one form or another.