Electronic Arts to lay off five percent of workforce [Update 2: Star Wars first-person shooter canceled]

Electronic Arts will lay five percent of its workforce, the company announced.

The company said it had 13,400 employees as of March 2023 in its most recent annual report, which would put the total number of employees laid off at around 670 people.

In a note to staff, Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson said the company is “moving away from development of future licensed [intellectual property] that we do not believe will be successful in our changing industry.”

GamesIndustry.biz reports that one such licensed title has been canceled as part of this plan, and that the teams working on it have been moved to other projects. An Electronic Arts representative also confirmed to the website that both its Black Panther and Iron Man games remain in development.

In 2022, Electronic Arts subsidiary and Star Wars Jedi series developer Respawn Entertainment announced three new Star Wars titles, including the third entry in the Star Wars Jedi series, a first-person shooter, and a strategy game. It is unclear whether any of these are the canceled project referenced by GamesIndustry.biz.

“This greater focus allows us to drive creativity, accelerate innovation, and double down on our biggest opportunities—including our owned [intellectual property], sports, and massive online communities—to deliver the entertainment players want today and tomorrow,” Wilson explained in his note.

He added that the publisher “deeply considered every option to try and limit impacts to our teams,” and that informing people of those impacts has already begun and should be “largely completed by early next quarter.”

Get the full note from Wilson below.

Team,

We are entertaining, inspiring, and connecting more people with more content and deeper experiences than ever before. Over the last year, we have organized our company to further empower our creative leaders to deliver our strategic priorities of entertaining massive online communities, telling blockbuster stories, and harnessing the power of community in and around our games. These actions have positioned us to build bigger, bolder experiences for hundreds of millions of players and fans around the world.

We are also leading through an accelerating industry transformation where player needs and motivations have changed significantly. Fans are increasingly engaging with the largest [intellectual property], and looking to us for broader experiences where they can play, watch, create content, and forge deeper connections. Our industry exists at the cutting edge of entertainment, and in today’s dynamic environment, we are advancing the way we work and continuing to evolve our business.

As a company full of creators and storytellers, we believe in the value of teams innovating together, and continue to learn and adopt new ways of collaborating to grow and serve our global communities. 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 [intellectual property] 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 [intellectual property], sports, and massive online communities—to deliver the entertainment players want today and tomorrow. Lastly, we are streamlining our company operations to deliver deeper, more connected experiences for fans everywhere that build community, shape culture, and grow fandom.

In this time of change, we expect these decisions to impact approximately five percent of our workforce. I understand this will create uncertainty and be challenging for many who have worked with such dedication and passion and have made important contributions to our company. While not every team will be impacted, this is the hardest part of these changes, and we have deeply considered every option to try and limit impacts to our teams. Our primary goal is to provide team members with opportunities to find new roles and paths to transition onto other projects. Where that’s not possible, we will support and work with each colleague with the utmost attention, care, and respect. Communicating these impacts has already begun and will be largely completed by early next quarter.

I want to extend my appreciation to everyone who has helped contribute to EA’s ongoing story. We are a team that leans into our values to lead the future of entertainment, and I look forward to what we will create together. Thank you for all that you do.

—Andrew

Update 5:30 p.m.: According to an IGN report, Respawn Entertainment’s Star Wars first-person shooter was canceled as a result of the reorganization, and the 2022-established Battlefield studio Ridgeline Games has been shut down, with some of its staff folded into sister Battlefield studio Ripple Effect. Danny Isaac and Darren White at Criterion will oversee single-player work on the series going forward. Work on the next Star Wars Jedi game remains underway.

Update 6:15 p.m.: Electronic Arts has shared the following note from EA Entertainment and Technology president Laura Miele, confirming IGN’s report:

Everyone,

Over the past six months, you’ve heard me talk about aligning our portfolio and organization to deliver on our ambitious growth strategy. One of the essential parts of delivering on our plans is making sure we are listening to our players and investing in the games they want to play. As Andrew noted in his EA Action, the reality of a creative business is that market conditions and players’ needs are always changing. We’re seeing a rapid player shift toward large open-world games, massive communities, and live services.

With that in mind, we have shared the following updates with our teams:

Respawn:

Respawn’s unique ability to connect with players and create exceptional game experiences is unrivaled in entertainment. As we’ve looked at Respawn’s portfolio over the last few months, what’s clear is the games our players are most excited about are Jedi and Respawn’s rich library of owned brands. Knowing this, we have decided to pivot away from early development on a Star Wars [first-person shooter] action game to focus our efforts on new projects based on our owned brands while providing support for existing games. It’s always hard to walk away from a project, and this decision is not a reflection of the team’s talent, tenacity, or passion they have for the game. Giving fans the next installments of the iconic franchises they want is the definition of blockbuster storytelling and the right place to focus.

Battlefield Studios:

Our vision for Battlefield is ambitious and exciting. The project is making meaningful progress, thanks to the strong leadership of Vince Zampella and Byron Beede and dedicated studios committed to building a Battlefield platform our fans will love. Today, we have the largest Battlefield team in the franchise’s history, with passionate people in place across the globe and our studios organized to benefit from both franchise and local leadership.

Marcus Lehto recently made a personal decision to leave the project. To ensure our work continues uninterrupted, we immediately appointed leadership at Criterion to oversee our single-player work. As part of this change, we’ll be winding down Ridgeline as a standalone studio in Seattle, with some team members joining Ripple Effect. They’ll continue to work with teams across DICE, Ripple, and Criterion as they build the next Battlefield experience.

Mobile:

Mobile continues to be the largest gaming platform and we see strong growth opportunities for EA, and the teams are more focused with a clearer strategy and priorities than ever before. Over the past six months, we have brought together the mobile and HD franchise teams under singular leadership across EA Sports FC, Madden NFL, and The Sims. The next step is setting up our standalone mobile portfolio for growth. Over the past few weeks, we have announced we are sunsetting Kim Kardashian Hollywood, Lord of the Rings, Tap Sports Baseball, and F1 Mobile. These games have entertained many people over the years, and it’s the right time to focus our time on the remaining games in our portfolio which we believe can grow. We have some great titles, and I’m optimistic about where we can take our significant library of owned IP.

It’s not lost on me that these changes are more than words on a page; they directly impact the work you do every day and, in some cases, mean we are eliminating roles and saying goodbye to talented colleagues. I will never lose sight of the human impact of these decisions and know that change and disruption aren’t easy. In difficult moments, we must remember how important it is to show up for our players and for each other.

—Laura