Electronic Arts has just announced that it will be laying off 350 employees in an effort to consolidate its operations. Affected employees come from departments like marketing, publishing, and analytics. As a result of these efforts, EA offices in Japan and Russia will be closing, as well. This is only the latest in an increasing number of mass layoffs to affect the video game industry.
In a statement provided by Andrew Wilson, the EA CEO called the decision “important but very hard.” You can read part of the statement here:
As part of this, we have made changes to our marketing and publishing organization, our operations teams, and we are ramping down our current presence in Japan and Russia as we focus on different ways to serve our players in those markets. In addition to organizational changes, we are deeply focused on increasing quality in our games and services.
The move is strikingly similar to the layoffs seen at Activision Blizzard earlier in the year. While Activision’s number of layoffs were close to 800, departments like marketing and publishing were also impacted there. It was later revealed that over a quarter of those laid off came from Blizzard Entertainment alone.
Despite the large number of layoffs, EA has committed to offering assistance to those affected in any way possible. The company is trying to “find other roles inside the company,” however those leaving will still be offered severance packages. The details of what these packages include were not given. EA recently laid off a large number of staffers at the Australia-based Firemonkeys studio, as well.
EA has certainly been having a challenging few months so far. The publisher had a disappointing third quarter after headlining titles like Battlefield V failed to meet expectations, resulting in lowered stock prices. It also confirmed that it would not be holding a press conference at E3 2019, further severing its ties with the long-running trade show.
