Electronic Arts has decided to follow the example of Activision Blizzard and plans to get rid of most of its employees.
What
Known
According to Kotaku, “electronics” are being assembledfire 350 people. The resource received a letter from EA head Andrew Wilson, which he sent to company employees. The report states that the cuts will affect the publishing and marketing departments. EA wants to improve customer support, as well as change its strategy in the international market, and therefore layoffs will affect offices in Russia and Japan.
"Electronics" will leave the developers alone and plan to focus on improving the content, engine and cloud technologies. In addition, the company wants to bridge the gap with the gaming community.
Kotaku contacted EA and received confirmationwhat was said in the letter. Representatives said the internal changes would impact 350 roles at the 9,000-person company. The representative also added that some employees will remain within the walls of EA and move to new positions. People who do leave the company will receive severance pay.
According to DTF, the Moscow office will be closed, and partdivisions will move to Eastern Europe. An EA representative assured that “the changes will not lead to a decrease in the level of support and localization of games.” In addition, “electronics” will form a regional team, which will deal with the company’s games. The Japanese office will also be closed.
One of the department employees admitted to Kotaku that mass layoffs had been expected since October 2018, when EA stopped hiring new employees.
The industry has grown in recent years, butmass layoffs began to occur too frequently. In mid-February, Activision Blizzard laid off 800 employees, and Guild Wars 2 developers from ArenaNet recently lost their jobs. Even GOG had to lay off 10% of its staff at the end of February.