Electronic Arts plans to lay off about 5% of its workforce, which translates to about 670 employees. This is being done to restructure the company and change its operational model. This information was revealed in a note distributed by EA's CEO Andrew Wilson.
This news comes just days after EA announced a "small wave" of layoffs following the closure of two mobile games. It has also been revealed that Electronic Arts plans to "move away" from developing games based on licensed intellectual property, which the company believes "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—responsible for the single player portion of Battlefield. The development of content for the single player mode in Battlefield is transitioning to Criterion, a studio more well-known for the Burnout and Need For Speed franchises. However, they had worked on small sections of Battlefield V and Battlefield 2042.
In a public statement, EA's President of Entertainment and Technology Laura Miele indicated that Marcus Lehto's departure played a role in the decision to close Ridgeline.
"Marcus Lehto recently made a personal decision to leave the project," she said. "To ensure seamless operations, we immediately appointed Criterion leadership to oversee our work in the single player game.
As part of this change, we will wind down Ridgeline as a standalone studio in Seattle, and some team members will join Ripple Effect. They will continue to work with DICE, Ripple and Criterion, creating the next Battlefield experience."
Additionally, as part of the restructuring, EA has canceled a first-person game set in the Star Wars universe that was being developed by Respawn Entertainments studio. Previously, it was reported that this game was dedicated to the Mandalorian—bounty hunter. The cancellation of the game about the Mandalorian was a serious shock to those who were working on the project, which had already completed several levels and a vertical slice (the part of the game that is already being developed with full processes and high quality, serving as a benchmark for other levels). The cancellation was a result of a strategy to reduce development of games based on licensed intellectual property, which usually requires substantial licensing fees.
Over the past few days, over a thousand workers in the gaming industry have lost their jobs. Recently, Sony announced they will lay off about 900 PlayStation employees. ESL FACEIT is also reducing its staff by 15%. According to the figures released, over 8,000 people were laid off in the gaming industry in the first 2 months of 2024. Last year, approximately 10,000 employees were laid off in one way or another.
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