EA lays off hundreds of employees and cancels games

The carnage continues in the world of video games. After Devolver, it's the turn of giant Electronic Arts to lay off some of its teams. The company has announced a wave of departures from one of its flagship studios, Respawn Entertainment. You probably know it for its successful projects, such as Titanfall, Star Wars Jedi, and Apex Legends. This first license is also one of the most famous since players have been demanding a sequel for years without EA granting it.

According to Bloomberg, Electronic Arts has reportedly canceled a project underway at Respawn, known under the code name R7, which was supposed to take place in the universe of Titanfall. This decision comes with a wave of layoffs affecting between 300 and 400 positions across the group. At Respawn itself, nearly a hundred employees across all functions have reportedly been laid off, according to IGN. The development, QA, and publishing departments have been impacted. On X, the firm explains:

All is not lost

Some of the employees have reportedly been redeployed to other projects like Iron Man (developed by EA Motive) or the Battlefield series. On social media, Respawn tried to soften the announcement by emphasizing its “commitment to players” and mentioning “targeted adjustments“. But behind the polite words, a climate of uncertainty looms. Daniel Suarez, former SVP of Operations, has now been promoted to General Manager of the studio and will report directly to Vince Zampella, iconic co-founder of Respawn, who also oversees Battlefield since an internal restructuring in 2021.

These layoffs will disrupt a lot of internal projects, although EA wants to be reassuring about its successful franchises. In its message, the studio explains for example:

These layoffs are unfortunately part of a major trend. For several years, the video game industry has been rocked by recurring cutbacks, despite overall economic growth. Studios closed, projects canceled, repeated restructuring: job insecurity is becoming a reality for many talented people, even within large companies.