Round two dozen Respawn workers have been laid off, a part of a collection of ongoing cuts at EA that may finally see round 5 p.c of the corporate’s staff lose their jobs.
![Apex Legends has been one of EA's most successful live service games since its launch in 2019.](https://sm.ign.com/ign_in/photo/r/respawns-s/respawns-star-wars-fps-is-canceled-but-work-on-next-jedi-gam_k11r.jpg)
Reviews of the layoffs started circulating on social media on Thursday, with Apex Legends’ social group among the many areas impacted. IGN understands that these layoffs are a part of the reductions introduced in February that may affect round 670 staff. The layoffs are anticipated to be accomplished by the tip of the month.
EA’s reasoning for the layoffs was that it was pivoting away from future licensed IP to its personal franchises, making the Apex Legends layoffs considerably shocking. However, IGN understands that EA plans to proceed investing within the improvement of Apex Legends going ahead, with a supply with data of EA’s plans insisting that it is nonetheless a “large precedence” for the longer term.
After 20 Seasons of Apex and 5 years at Respawn practically to the day, my job has been made redundant and I’ve been laid off.
Engaged on this sport and supporting this neighborhood has actually been the dignity of my profession and a spotlight of my life.
Thanks for every part, legends ❤️— Alex Ackerman? (@alex_frostwolf) March 14, 2024
Along with the Respawn layoffs, EA has canceled a beforehand introduced Star Wars FPS that’s believed to be centered round a Mandalorian character, although work on the following Jedi sport, Black Panther, and Iron Man is continuous. EA additionally shuttered Ridgeline Video games, which was co-founded by Marcus Lehto to work on Battlefield’s single-player marketing campaign. EA has been aggressively restructuring since 2023, together with splitting its enterprise into EA Sports activities and EA Leisure.
EA’s cuts are a part of a broader collection of layoffs throughout the video games trade which have seen 1000’s of staff lose their jobs at Riot, Epic, and different firms. We highlighted a number of the human price of those layoffs in our personal reporting, together with how they’ve disproportionately impacted disabled staff.
Kat Bailey is IGN’s Information Director in addition to co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Ship her a DM at @the_katbot.