Let’s face it: Electronic Arts (EA) doesn’t exactly have the greatest track record for a video game company. Gamers will clearly recall Star Wars Battlefront II back in 2017 as an example of that. The company’s response of predatory lootboxes and grinding mechanics to unlock Star Wars heroes giving users “a sense of pride and accomplishment” is perhaps one of the greatest examples of just how low the company can go. There is a reason why that specific response from the EA Community Team is the most downvoted comment in Reddit’s history, after all. 683,000 downvotes just don’t lie.
So in light of that, you probably shouldn’t be too surprised when EA performs yet another scummy move. This time, involving their workforce. Specifically: the 5% who EA are going to fire.
Electronic Arts Upcoming Layoffs: Details
Video Games Chronicle (VGC) has just revealed that Electronic Arts is about to embark on yet another scummy move. According to them: EA has announced a “restructuring plan” that will see the company laying off a whopping 5% of its global workforce. Just precisely how many people will that be, you might ask? Well, also according to VGC: the company’s latest filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission revealed that EA employed 13,400 staff as of March 2023. If EA does go through with this mass layoff, then that’s 670 people who will have lost their jobs.
So how does EA justify these layoffs? Well, EA CEO Andrew Wilson says in a letter to employees that:
Given how and where we are working, we are continuing to optimize our global real estate footprint to best support our business.
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.
So basically: EA wants to shut down any IP they don’t feel is profitable. They don’t mention exactly which IP, but they’re shutting those down. Wilson also implies that EA might shut down online services for older games, what with the whole “sunsetting” remark. This is another bit of bad news on top of everything else.
Tune back into THS to find out more EA news and other video game news when we hear about them.
Source: VGC
