EA plans to cut 5% of its workforce, part of a plan that includes reducing office space and sunsetting some games; EA employed 13,400 workers as of March 2023

- EA announced Wednesday that it will cut 5% of its workforce. — The video game company employed 13,400 workers as of the end …

CNBC 2024-02-29 Alex Koller

Context & Ripple Effects

EA’s announcement reprises an earlier workforce and office-space reduction plan reported in 2023, suggesting that cost restructuring has remained an active operating priority rather than a one-off adjustment.

It also lands amid broad games-sector retrenchment: Epic cut roughly 900 roles and Unity outlined a much deeper reduction across teams. EA’s addition of game sunsetting makes this more than a headcount story, extending the reset to its live product portfolio.

First-order effects

EA employees face a 5% workforce reduction, while the company reduces its physical-office footprint and the operating costs attached to it.
Players of games selected for sunsetting lose continued access or support, and the teams and vendors tied to those titles face an immediate wind-down.

Second-order effects

Remaining EA teams will have to absorb support, transition, and portfolio-prioritization work, concentrating resources on the titles the company elects to keep operating.
The move reinforces pressure on other publishers and game-platform suppliers to scrutinize fixed costs and the economics of maintaining older live games, following Epic’s own large staff reduction and Unity’s company-wide cuts.

Third-order effects

If publishers repeatedly pair layoffs with game closures, the sector may become more concentrated around fewer, longer-lived franchises and services, raising the opportunity cost of sustaining marginal titles.
The pattern points to a more disciplined live-service portfolio model: game availability increasingly depends on ongoing operating economics, not simply a title’s original release.

The trend: Game companies are shifting from expansion-era staffing and broad catalogs toward tighter cost bases and more selective support for live titles.

Discussion

Gameranx Ryan Parreno on x
EA Is Laying Off 5 % Of Their Workers And Cancelling Games
Pure Xbox Liam Doolan on x
EA Is Laying Off 5% Of Its Workforce
@game_fabricator Marcus Lehto on x
Gut punched to see EA lay off my team. So many very talented devs who were incredibly valuable to the Battlefield franchise.
@sweetpotatoes Nicole Carpenter on x
The thing I keep thinking about with all these layoffs is how studies have shown that layoffs don't actually save that much money. EA expects to spend up to $165 million on this, on top of the ~$200 million from last year's cuts. https://www.polygon.com/... [image]
@jfragen_ Jordan Fragen on x
Buckle up, 2024 is shaping up to be rough for game devs. Over the last week, roughly 2,000 gaming jobs were cut across @EA, @Sony, @ESL @Faceit, @SuperMGames and more. It isn't even March and we've lost ~80% of 2023's layoff total per @dekaf's videogamelayoffs.
@culturecrave @culturecrave on x
EA has canceled Respawn's Star Wars FPS It was rumored to be a Mandalorian bounty hunter game (via @IGN) [image]
@wario64 @wario64 on x
EA laying off around 670 employees. “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...…
@edzitron Ed Zitron on x
I feel like if you make a layoff of more than 100 people you should have to talk to 20% of them on the phone and listen to them rant at you and be legally required to take it
@bravointel @bravointel on x
NEWS: As part of today's layoffs at EA, EA is shutting down Battlefield studio Ridgeline Games. The studio was working on narrative experiences for Battlefield Battlefield's narrative work is now being lead by Criterion Games (via IGN) [image]
@gibiz @gibiz on x
EA laying off around 670 as it moves away from future licensed IP to double down on owned IP, sports, and online communities https://www.gamesindustry.biz/ ...
r/SWGalaxyOfHeroes r on reddit
EA to Lay Off Around 670 Workers, Sunsetting Games, ‘Moving Away From Future Licensed IP’ - IGN
r/vfx r on reddit
EA to Lay Off Around 670 Workers, Sunsetting Games, ‘Moving Away From Future Licensed IP’ - IGN
r/technews r on reddit
EA is laying off over 650 employees | An upcoming Star Wars first-person shooter was canceled as a result of the move.
r/swtor r on reddit
EA is laying off 5% of its workforce, 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.”
r/SuperMegaBaseball r on reddit
EA is laying off 5% of their workforce (approximately 670 employees)
r/technology r on reddit
EA to lay off 5% of workforce, or about 670 employees
r/XboxSeriesX r on reddit
EA to Lay Off Around 670 Workers, Sunsetting Games, ‘Moving Away From Future Licensed IP’ - IGN
r/kindafunny r on reddit
EA to Lay Off Around 670 Workers, Sunsetting Games, ‘Moving Away From Licensed IPs’ - IGN
r/F1Game r on reddit
EA to Lay Off Around 670 Workers, closing F1 Mobile Racing

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