EA Announces 5% Workforce Slash, Cancels Games in Industry-Wide Downturn

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Thursday, February 29, 2024 9:08 AM UTC

Electronic Arts is known for its “Madden NFL” and “Apex Legends” video games. Still, despite having popular titles, it failed to escape the harsh economic conditions within the struggling gaming industry. According to Deadline, it must let go of hundreds of employees and discontinue some games it is already working on.

Latest Casualty in the Tech and Gaming Space

The game developer and publisher is the latest prominent name in the industry to trim down its workforce. Before EA, other firms in this field, like Epic Games, Microsoft, and Sony Interactive, were also downsizing, with most of them stating it was a cost-cutting move.

Thousands of employees have lost their jobs recently, and layoffs have continued since the business is not improving, at least for now. For Electronic Arts, the job cuts are part of its broader restructuring focusing on supporting the company’s strategic priorities and growth initiatives. This detail was also indicated in the company’s securities filing this week.

Restructuring Efforts

On top of the layoffs, Electronic Arts’ chief executive officer, Andrew Wilson, also revealed through a memo he sent to employees that they would be undergoing corporate restructuring. This means there could also be terminations of some services and suspension of some projects in development.

CNN Business reported that EA hinted it would also make some changes in its content slate in the future. “We are also sunsetting games and moving away from the development of future licensed (IP) that we do not believe will be successful in our changing industry,” part of the CEO’s memo to staff reads. “We are streamlining our company operations to deliver deeper, more connected experiences for fans everywhere that build community, shape culture, and grow fandom.”

Photo by: Maxim Abramov/Unsplash