The publisher will no longer deal with licenses that they believe will not be successful.

This week Sony also laid off over 1000 people, and now Electronic Arts has announced that there will be about 5% layoffs. As they had 13,400 employees in March last year, this will affect about 670 people. First it was rumored by Gamesindustry that one of the licensed games to be canceled was Respawn Entertainment’s Star Wars indoor shooter project announced for 2022, then IGN reported that Ridgeline Games (which Halo co-creator Marcus Lehto recently left; now we know why!) will be closed and some staff will be transferred to another Battlefield studio, Ripple Effect. Single-player work on the IP will now be overseen by Criterion’s Danny Isaac and Darren White. Star Wars Jedi 3 has not been canceled. This was confirmed by Laura Miele, head of EA Entertainment and Technology…

But let’s look at the reasoning of Andrew Wilson, CEO of Electronic Arts: “We are entertaining, inspiring and connecting more people with more content and deeper experiences than ever before. Over the past year, we have reorganized our company to further empower our creative leaders to deliver on our strategic priorities of entertaining massive online communities, telling blockbuster stories, and harnessing the power of community in and around our games. These actions have positioned us to create bigger, bolder experiences for hundreds of millions of players and fans around the world. We are also leading through an accelerating industry transformation where player needs and motivations have changed significantly. Fans are increasingly engaged with the biggest [intellectual property] and are looking to us for broader experiences where they can play, watch, create content and forge deeper connections. Our industry is at the forefront of entertainment, and in today’s dynamic environment, we are evolving the way we work and evolving our business.

As a company full of creators and storytellers, we believe in the value of teams innovating together, and we continue to learn and adopt new ways of working together to grow and serve our global communities. Given how and where we work, we continue to optimize our global real estate footprint to best support our business. We are also sunsetting games and moving away from future licensed [intellectual property] development that we do not believe will be successful in our changing industry. This sharper focus will allow us to drive creativity, accelerate innovation, and double down on our biggest opportunities – including our owned [intellectual property], sports, and massive online communities – to deliver the entertainment players want today and tomorrow. Finally, we are streamlining our operations to deliver deeper, more connected experiences for fans everywhere that build community, shape culture, and grow fandom.

During this time of change, we expect these decisions to affect approximately five percent of our workforce. I understand that 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. While not every team will be impacted, this is the most difficult part of these changes, and we have carefully considered every option to try to limit the impact on our teams. Our primary goal is to provide team members with opportunities to find new roles and pathways to transition to other projects. Where that’s not possible, we will support and work with each colleague with the utmost attention, care and respect. The communication of these impacts has already begun and will be largely completed by early next quarter. I want to thank everyone who has contributed to the ongoing story of EA. We are a team leaning into our values to lead the future of entertainment, and I look forward to what we will create together. Thank you for everything you do,” Wilson wrote.

We won’t quote Miele’s statement, just summarize it. Respawn canceled its Star Wars FPS, Lehto left on his own, and Kim Kardashian Hollywood, Lord of the Ring, Tap Sports Baseball, and F1 Mobile will be canceled on mobile. Still, it will be interesting to see how far the publisher moves away from the Star Wars IP. Because that’s what we suspect…

Source: Gematsu, Gamesindustry, IGN, EA,