Electronic Arts is laying off around 6 percent of its workforce, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. In a blog post published on Wednesday, EA CEO Andrew Wilson says the job cuts come as the game publisher looks to reevaluate its investment strategy and reduce office space.
EA is laying off 6 percent of its workers
The layoffs come as the game publisher looks to reprioritize investments and cut down on office space.
The layoffs come as the game publisher looks to reprioritize investments and cut down on office space.
Illustration: Alex Castro / The Verge
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“As we drive greater focus across our portfolio, we are moving away from projects that do not contribute to our strategy, reviewing our real estate footprint, and restructuring some of our teams,” Wilson states. “These decisions are expected to impact approximately six percent of our company’s workforce.”
While Wilson doesn’t mention the specific departments that the layoffs are affecting, he says that it will provide “opportunities for our colleagues to transition onto other projects” where possible. As noted by the Journal, EA reported having about 13,000 employees last year, which means a 6 percent cut could eliminate around 780 jobs. The company already started notifying some affected workers earlier this quarter and says it expects this to “continue through early next fiscal year.”
Affected workers will receive severance pay, healthcare, and transition services. According to an 8-K form filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, EA will incur around $170 million to $200 million in charges related to the layoffs and restructuring.
EA, which publishes popular games like The Sims and Madden NFL, laid off around 200 Apex Legends testers in February over a Zoom call, according to a report from Kotaku. As EA continues to cut back spending, it also announced its plans to shut down Apex Legends Mobile in January and halted development on the mobile Battlefield title it began working on. The company reportedly canceled a new Titanfall single-player game as well.
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