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Electronic Arts has announced that it is also undergoing mass layoffs, with plans to lay off 5% of its total global staff, or approximately 670 people.
In a memo sent to staff today, CEO Andrew Wilson said EA is reacting to “accelerate industry transformation where gamer needs and motivations have changed significantly.” Crucially, EA also said it is “steering away from the development of future licensed IP.” EA currently has several confirmed Star Wars and Marvel games in development, including a third Jedi, Black Panther, and Iron Man game.
According to Wilson, EA will double down on intellectual property, sports and “massive online communities.” While Wilson did not provide details on which games would be gone, EA already announced that it would be shutting down two mobile games: F1 Mobile Racing and MLB Tap Sports.
“This increased focus allows us to drive creativity, accelerate innovation and double down on our biggest opportunities, including our intellectual property, sports and massive online communities, to deliver the entertainment gamers want today and tomorrow. Finally, we are streamlining our business . operations to deliver deeper, more connected experiences for fans around the world that build communities, shape culture, and grow fandom,” Wilson wrote.
IGN understands that these layoffs will affect several teams at EA and will greatly affect the support teams. While some developers will also be affected, EA largely hopes to remove them from canceled projects and move them to other teams. According to Wilson, these changes are already being communicated and will be completed “largely” by the beginning of next quarter.
“I understand that this will create uncertainty and be challenging for many who have worked with such dedication and passion and made important contributions to our company,” Wilson wrote. “While not all teams will be affected, this is the most difficult part of these changes and we have deeply considered all options to try to limit the impacts on our teams. Our primary goal is to provide team members with opportunities to find new roles and paths. “To transition to other projects. Where that is not possible, we will support and work with each colleague with the utmost attention, care and respect.”
Another blow to the games industry.
This marks another major blow to the games industry after a year and a half of ongoing mass layoffs at studios of all sizes. The cuts had an impact approximately 10,000 developers in 2023, and They are approaching 8,000 in just the first two months of 2024. Earlier this week, PlayStation laid off 900 employees and closed its London studio, while Die Gut Fabrik closed and Supermassive laid off 90.
While many have suggested that this wave of massive cuts is due to excessive spending and overhiring by companies during the COVID-19 pandemic, game developers have suggested a host of other reasons why this continues to happen. These include poor investment decisions by company leaders, struggles over the growing size, scope and cost of creating games, and a lack of long-term planning for the ebbs and flows of the games business.
Wilson’s full note can be found below.
Equipment,
We’re entertaining, inspiring and connecting more people with more content and deeper experiences than ever before. Over the past year, we have organized our company to promote empower our creative leaders to deliver on our strategic priorities of entertaining massive online communities, telling success stories, and harnessing the power of community in and around our games. These actions have positioned us to create bigger, bolder experiences for hundreds of millions of players and fans around the world.
We are also leading an accelerated industry transformation where player needs and motivations have changed significantly. Fans are increasingly engaging with larger intellectual property and looking to us for broader experiences where they can play, watch, create content, and forge deeper connections. Our industry is at the forefront of entertainment and in today’s dynamic environment, we are improving the way we work and continue to evolve our business.
As a company full of creators and storytellers, we believe in the value of teams innovating together and continue to learn and embrace new ways of collaborating to grow and serve our global communities. Considering how and where we work, we continue to optimize our global real estate footprint to better support our business. We are also shutting down games and moving away from developing future licensed IPs that we don’t believe will be successful in our changing industry. This increased focus allows us to drive creativity, accelerate innovation and double down on our greatest opportunities, including our intellectual property, esports and massive online communities, to deliver the entertainment gamers want today and tomorrow. Finally, we are optimizing our company operations to deliver deeper, more connected experiences to fans around the world that build community, shape culture, and grow fandom.
In this time of change, we expect these decisions to affect approximately 5 percent of our workforce. I understand that this will create uncertainty and be challenging for many who have worked with such dedication and passion and made important contributions to our company. While not all teams will be affected, this is the most difficult part of these changes and we have deeply considered all options to try to limit the impacts on our teams. Our main goal is to provide team members with opportunities to find new roles and paths to transition to other projects. Where that is not possible, we will support and work with each colleague with the utmost attention, care and respect. Communication of these impacts has already begun and will be largely completed by early next quarter.
I want to extend my thanks to everyone who has helped contribute to EA’s current story. We are a team that leans on our values to lead the future of entertainment and I look forward to what we will create together. Thanks for all that you do.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter at IGN. Do you have any story tips? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.