Electronic Arts has announced that it, too, is undergoing mass layoffs, with plans to let go 5% of its total global staff, or roughly 670 individuals.
In a note today sent to staff, CEO Andrew Wilson said that EA is reacting to “accelerating industry transformation where player needs and motivations and changed significantly.” Crucially, EA also said that it is “moving away from the development of future licensed IP.” EA currently has several confirmed Star Wars and Marvel games in development, including a third Jedi game, Black Panther, and Iron Man.
We’ve since learned that EA is canceling Respawn’s Star Wars FPS, which was announced last year but had not yet been fully revealed.
According to Wilson, EA will double down on owned IP, sports, and “massive online communities.” While Wilson did not provide details on which games would be sunset, EA already announced it would be shuttering two mobile games: F1 Mobile Racing and MLB Tap Sports.
“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. Lastly, we are streamlining our company operations to deliver deeper, more connected experiences for fans everywhere that build community, shape culture, and grow fandom,” Wilson wrote.
IGN understands that these layoffs will impact a number of teams across EA, largely affecting support teams. While some developers will also be impacted, EA largely hopes to move them off of canceled projects and onto other teams. Per Wilson, these changes are already being communicated, and will “largely” be completed by early next quarter.
“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. Our primary goal is to provide team members with opportunities to find new roles and paths to transition onto other projects. Where that’s not possible, we will support and work with each colleague with the utmost attention, care, and respect.”
Another blow to the games industry
This marks yet another major blow to the games industry coming off of a year and a half of ongoing mass layoffs at studios of all sizes. The cuts impacted roughly 10,000 developers in 2023, and are approaching 8,000 in just the first two months of 2024. Just earlier this week, PlayStation laid off 900 staff and closed its London studio, while Die Gut Fabrik shut down and Supermassive laid off 90.
While many have suggested this wave of mass cuts is occurring due to company overspending and overhiring during the COVID-19 pandemic, game developers have suggested a myriad of other reasons why this continue to happen. These include poor investment decisions from company leaders, struggles around the growing size, scope, and expense of making games, and a lack of long-term planning for the ebbs and flows of the games business.
Wilson’s full note can be found below.
Team,
We are entertaining, inspiring, and connecting more people with more content and deeper experiences than ever before. Over the last year, we have organized our company to further empower our creative leaders to deliver our strategic priorities of entertaining massive online communities, telling blockbuster stories, and harnessing the power of community in and around our games. These actions have positioned us to build bigger, bolder experiences for hundreds of millions of players and fans around the world.
We are also leading through an accelerating industry transformation where player needs and motivations have changed significantly. Fans are increasingly engaging with the largest IP, and looking to us for broader experiences where they can play, watch, create content, and forge deeper connections. Our industry exists at the cutting edge of entertainment, and in today’s dynamic environment, we are advancing the way we work and continuing to evolve our business.
As a company full of creators and storytellers, we believe in the value of teams innovating together, and continue to learn and adopt new ways of collaborating to grow and serve our global communities. Given how and where we are working, we are continuing to optimize our global real estate footprint to best support our business. We are also sunsetting games and moving away from 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. Lastly, we are streamlining our company operations to deliver deeper, more connected experiences for fans everywhere that build community, shape culture, and grow fandom.
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. 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. Our primary goal is to provide team members with opportunities to find new roles and paths to transition onto other projects. Where that’s not possible, we will support and work with each colleague with the utmost attention, care, and respect. Communicating these impacts has already begun and will be largely completed by early next quarter.
I want to extend my appreciation to everyone who has helped contribute to EA’s ongoing story. We are a team that leans into our values to lead the future of entertainment, and I look forward to what we will create together. Thank you for all that you do.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
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