EA Lays Off 5% of Workforce, Shifts Focus to Owned IP and Online Games Amid Industry Cost-Cutting
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Electronic Arts is laying off 5% of its workforce, around 670 employees, with notifications already underway. This comes almost a year after EA's last round of layoffs.
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EA CEO Andrew Wilson said the company is moving away from developing future licensed IP that is unlikely to succeed and will instead focus more on owned IP, sports games, and "massive online communities."
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The cuts are part of an industry-wide trend of layoffs and cost-reduction measures; EA alone expects to spend $125M-$165M on these efforts.
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EA reported record live service earnings in its recent financial results, but overall net bookings were only up 1% year-over-year.
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Roughly 8,000 game industry employees have been laid off so far this year, a worrying trend outpacing even 2023's high totals that's been driven by overexpansion during the pandemic among other economic factors.