We’re here reporting on even more horrid layoffs from across the industry, as EA has laid off 5% of its workforce. Additionally, the rumored Mandalorian-based FPS Respawn Entertainment was working on has unfortunately also succumbed to EA’s refocus and has been canceled.As revealed via a business update from EA CEO Andrew Wilson, a major company refocus will see 5% of its workforce, 670 employees, laid off. The move will see EA “sunset” a number of “future licensed IP” it believes will not be successful, and will see the company switch focus to its biggest franchises instead.”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,” Wilson said. “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.”Following Wilson’s announcement, EA’s president Laura Miele gave staff more details about the upcoming changes (via IGN), saying, “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,” Miele wrote. “Giving fans the next installments of the iconic franchises they want is the definition of blockbuster storytelling and the right place to focus.”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.”EA layoffs see Respawn’s rumored Mandalorian FPS shelvedAlongside the layoffs, EA has canceled an upcoming Star Wars FPS from Respawn Entertainment, which was rumored to feature a Mandalorian bounty hunter as the protagonist according to Insider Gaming. It seems that the team working on the early development project will now be spread between other projects, including Apex Legends, Black Panther, Iron Man, and the next Star Wars Jedi game, which is still going ahead.It’s understood that EA’s restructuring will see it pivot its focus onto its biggest franchises, with the upcoming Mass Effect and Dragon Age from BioWare still in production. Going forward, we can likely expect EA to double down on its Apex Legends, Battlefield, Black Panther, Dragon Age, EA Sports, Need for Speed, Skate, Star Wars Jedi, and The Sims IPs. Speaking of Battlefield, following the departure of Battlefield narrative director Marcus Lehto this week, EA is shutting down Ridgeline Games, which was working on the narrative, storytelling, and character development for the new ‘Battlefield universe.” The staff at Ridgeline will now be folded into fellow Battlefield studio Ripple Effect, while Criterion’s Danny Isaac and Darren White will step in to oversee the upcoming single-player content for the game. An Insider Gaming report suggests that Ripple Effect is working on a free-to-play battle royale Battlefield game, which will act similarly to Call of Duty: Warzone and tie in with future Battlefield games when they launch. Alongside the contemporary battle royale experience, the game is said to offer a “Gauntlet” mode, which will place players into teams to compete in objective-based game modes. It’s part of the new ‘Battlefield universe” EA is creating and could launch alongside the new mainline game in October 2025.The next mainline Battlefield is said to be taking a “back to its roots” approach and set in the near future between 2025 and 2030, bringing back the class system, and ramping up its destruction systems. The 120-player battles added in Battlefield 2024 will also be removed, taking the series back to 64-player maps for its larger game modes.In other news, EA is shutting down the servers of seven of its older games in March.
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