300+ Layoffs at Electronic Arts
The world’s largest publisher announces a 5-percent cut in its work force. They’ll reveal their earnings to Wall Street today.
FULL STORY:
Electronic Arts announced yesterday it will lay off between 325 and 350 employees, or about 5 percent of the total work force, as part of the transition process to next-generation development. About 35 employees in the Orlando, Fla., Tiburon studio will be affected, and the cuts will also reach employees in the Vancouver offices and the Redwood City, Calif., headquarters.
Just about everyone interviewed on the topic, from EA spokespeople to game design students in Orlando, has described the firings as an expected part of the move to the next generation. EA has denied that the layoffs are a direct result of a relatively slow holiday sales season. The lull was caused by consumers holding out on current-gen purchases to prepare for next-gen games, as well as a shortage of Xbox 360 systems to support game purchases. An EA spokesperson told CNET News.com:
“It’s not related to (game sales) performance. It’s more reconciling the costs of learning new systems with what the needs of the new systems are. You realign your resources to figure out what your priorities are and then figure out how to execute them most efficiently.”
In Orlando, where EA has made big news by expanding its Tiburon studios, students at the tech schools that have popped up around EA seemed upbeat, as well they should be:
“I’m still very optimistic about the future of the video-game industry. By the time I graduate in another year, we should be at the sweet spot for hiring game developers for the next-generation consoles.”
• Game over for hundreds of EA employees [CNET]
• Game maker is cutting 35 jobs [Orlando Sentinel]
• Electronic Arts cuts hundreds of jobs [Business Week]
