What just happened? Even the biggest game companies aren't immune from the spate of job cuts that have plagued the industry recently. Electronic Arts has announced that it is letting go of 5% of its worldwide staff, impacting around 670 people. Furthermore, it will also be "sunsetting" a number of games and moving away from certain licensed IPs. One of the canceled titles has been confirmed as Respawn's Star Wars FPS.
EA CEO Andrew Wilson told staff in note that the company is reacting to "accelerating industry transformation where player needs and motivations have changed significantly." He added that EA will be streamlining operations, with the cuts part of an ongoing effort to "optimize our global real estate footprint to best support our business."
It's interesting to learn that EA is moving away from the development of some future licensed IPs. A few of the games it currently has in the works include a third Jedi game, Iron Man, and Black Panther, but none of those are thought to be affected.
"This greater focus allows us to drive creativity, accelerate innovation, and double down on our biggest opportunities," said Wilson in a press release. "Including our owned IP, sports, and massive online communities--to deliver the entertainment players want today and tomorrow."
According to IGN, one in-development game that has definitely been canceled as part of EA's restructuring is an unnamed Star Wars FPS. It was said to feature a Mandalorian protagonist and take place during the height of the Galactic Empire. It was being made by Respawn, the studio behind the excellent Titanfall 2 and Apex Legends. This is the second time Respawn has faced this situation: EA canceled Titanfall 3 ten months into its development.
Most of those impacted by EA's cuts will come from support teams. The company says it hopes to move developers from canceled projects onto other teams.
EA laid off 775 people, or 6% of its workforce, last March as part of its "restructuring." It also implemented further layoffs at Codemasters, which EA owns, in December.
We're just two months into 2024, yet there have been approximately 8,000 layoffs made by gaming studios so far this year. That figure represents 80% of the roughly 10,000 industry job losses recorded throughout all of 2023.
It was only this week that PlayStation let go of 900 people and closed its London studio. Supermassive, Deck Nine, and Cloud Imperium Games are just some of the other big names to have made job cuts this year.