Persevering with what has been an terrible time within the video games business, EA has introduced it is going to be shedding 5% of its complete workforce, or 670 staff.
This comes as a part of Digital Arts chief government officer Andrew Wilson telling staff that the corporate is “persevering with to evolve our enterprise and groups,” revealing a strategic shift that sees EA focusing extra on “owned IP.”
Wilson says that tasks are being cancelled, and that it is going to be “shifting away from improvement of future licensed IP that we don’t consider might be profitable in our altering business.”
“As an organization stuffed with creators and storytellers, we consider 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 assist our enterprise.
We’re additionally sunsetting video games and shifting away from improvement of future licensed IP that we don’t consider might be profitable in our altering business.
This higher focus permits us to drive creativity, speed up innovation, and double down on our largest alternatives – together with our owned IP, sports activities, and big on-line communities – to ship the leisure gamers need at present and tomorrow.
Lastly, we’re streamlining our firm operations to ship deeper, extra linked experiences for followers all over the place that construct group, form tradition, and develop fandom.” – Andrew Wilson
It’s once more upsetting to see so many lives thrown into chaos by these mass layoffs. EA is among the most profitable publishers within the enterprise because of its EA Sports activities division and people “licensed IP” video games that it now desires to maneuver away from.
All that put collectively, it’s no shock that shortly after Wilson’s assertion went dwell, a notice from EA Leisure head Laura Miele to staff (through IGN) revealed one of many cancelled video games was Respawn’s upcoming Star Wars FPS sport.
“It’s all the time laborious to stroll away from a challenge, and this resolution shouldn’t be a mirrored image of the crew’s expertise, tenacity, or ardour they’ve for the sport,” she stated.
“Giving the followers the subsequent installments of the enduring franchises they need is the definition of blockbuster storytelling and the suitable place to focus.”
Miele additionally added “I’ll by no means lose sight of the human influence of those selections, and know that change and disruption aren’t straightforward. In tough moments, we should bear in mind how vital it’s to point out up on your gamers and for one another.”
A Star Wars sport from the crew that’s delivered a number of the greatest FPS video games this business has seen interval appeared like a match made in heaven.
Now, as EA makes this shift to focus extra on Apex Legends and different IP it owns, we gained’t get to see this sport. Respawn will nevertheless nonetheless make Star Wars: Jedi video games.
Digital Arts laid off 780 staff final yr, proper on the finish of March 2023. This yr, simply forward of March, 670. The writer laid off greater than 1,200 staff alone final yr, and this yr’s rely is already greater than half that.
Because the starting of final yr, there was an unprecedented consistency with which publishers and studios throughout the business have suffered layoffs or have been shut down totally.
It’s no stretch to say that this is among the video games business’s most making an attempt instances in its historical past. Hopefully all these impacted are capable of land on their toes.
Supply – [EA, IGN]