You’d be wrong if you think that the gaming industry would escape the tech industry layoffs. Electronic Arts has announced its plans to lay off 800 employees, affecting 6 percent of its workforce.
The company’s CEO, Andrew Wilson, released a statement on the official EA website. Wilson started by praising the success of some of the company’s releases and how the video game community continues to enjoy playing its titles like The Sims, FIFA SPORTS, and Apex Legends. The CEO then announced that EA now has a new vision — to cater to video game communities and create “blockbuster interactive storytelling.”
“We are leaders in a dynamic industry with new audiences, new technology, and new media trends fundamentally reshaping the world around us. This level of transformation creates powerful opportunities. Now, more than ever, we must be focused on our strategic priorities: building games and experiences that entertain massive online communities; creating blockbuster interactive storytelling; and amplifying the power of community in and around our games with social and creator tools. These priorities align our investments with opportunities to make the biggest impact.”
This vision change meant that projects that don’t cater to this will no longer be the company’s priority. Wilson also announced that he plans to restructure some of the teams in the company and will be reviewing EA’s real estate footprint as it moves towards this new strategy. Unfortunately, this meant that 6 percent of the company’s workforce will be affected. He reassured that the workers who will be affected will receive support, either financially or through helping them transition to other opportunities.
“As we drive greater focus across our portfolio, we are moving away from projects that do not contribute to our strategy, reviewing our real estate footprint, and restructuring some of our teams. These decisions are expected to impact approximately six percent of our company’s workforce. This is the most difficult part, and we are working through the process with the utmost care and respect. Where we can, we are providing opportunities for our colleagues to transition onto other projects. Where that’s not possible, we are providing severance pay and additional benefits such as health care and career transition services.”
It’s currently unknown which projects or departments will be affected. However, it’s unlikely to be the Sims team since it’s still developing the upcoming Sims 5 game.
According to Variety, the company faced a 9 percent drop in its reported net bookings during the last financial quarter. It was also revealed in EA’s SEC filing that it expects to be subjected to impairment charges between $170 to 200 million due to its pending restructuring. It plans to be “substantially complete” by Sept. 2023.
