EA Lays Off 5% of Its Workforce - 600+ People
Feb. 28, 2024EA Lays Off 5% of Its Workforce – 600+ People
Andrew Wilson went on to state, “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.
This statement seems to imply that EA will be phasing out development of titles that are not yet announced, or those that have not produced larger sales numbers, and that the company will refocus on the titles that they are best known for likeMadden,Star Wars,Apex Legends,andBattlefield. Maybe evenMass Effect?
One franchise that could potentially be on the chopping block is EA’s newest Monster Hunting Game:Wild Hearts. Though many fans of the genre enjoyed the game, it had terrible performance issues, some of which remain to this day. And currently, the KoeI Tecmo title has a 48% live-time rating onSteam, which is not great to say the least.
It is of course possible the Koei Tecmo may find another publisher for this franchise, should they continue it, but it’s hard to imagine too many companies that would invest so heavily into its success after such a rough start.
Andrew also stated “Lastly, we are streamlining our company operations to deliver deeper, more connected experiences for fans everywhere that build community, shape culture, and grow fandom.” This would seem to imply that EA is aware that some of its games have become disconnected from gamers at larger and that they are committed to focusing on better experiences for players in the near future, which sounds like music to our ears. It’s just a shame they had to lay off so many people to do it…
These are not the only layoffs happening in the Gaming Industry though withTwitch,Playstation,Supermassive, andDeck Nineall laying off employees over that past year to the tune of some 2000 people or more. It’s likely these are not the last we will be seeing either based on current trends.
Castielle
Senior Editor at Fextralife. I enjoy gaming, playing and watching sports, cooking yummy food, watching a good movie and hanging out with Fex.
