After a cut-off of 800 jobs at Activision Blizzard this February, EA recently made an announcement disclosing a significant cut-off of 350 employees (which nearly makes 4% of its workforce from its 9000 employees globally) in the company. The big news was disclosed in an e-mail obtained by Kotaku from the company’s CEO Andrew Wilson. The company further issued a statement mentioning their plans to ramp down its current presence in Japan and Russia.
The news comes as a difficult time for the gaming industry. EA, the company behind FIFA and recent blockbuster Apex Legends did not face a good time with its sales last year. Battlefield V, that was released last year, was a flop with selling a million fewer copies than what the company expected. Wilson blamed the failure of the marketing department, not being able to draw the attention of gamers. This year also, Anthem might give a setback to EA following the troubled launch and uninspiring reviews.
“We have the vision to be the World’s Greatest Games Company” but that “if we are honest with ourselves, we are not there yet.” The company’s CEO said in the e-mail announcing the layoffs. The statement that was made public said that the company will “ramp down its presence in Japan and Russia”, but a report from Famitsu confirmed that EA has closed its Japanese office entirely.
The full statement can be read below:
Today we took some important steps as a company to address our challenges and prepare for the opportunities ahead. As we look across a changing world around us, it’s clear that we must change with it. We’re making deliberate moves to better deliver on our commitments, refine our organization and meet the needs of our players. 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. Great games will continue to be at the core of everything we do, and we are thinking differently about how to amaze and inspire our players.
This is a difficult day. The changes we’re making today will impact about 350 roles in our 9,000-person company. These are important but very hard decisions and we do not take them lightly. We are friends and colleagues at EA, we appreciate and value everyone’s contributions, and we are doing everything we can to ensure we are looking after our people to help them through this period to find their next opportunity. This is our top priority.
An EA spokesperson said that they are finding new fits for the affected employees within the organization and will provide them with all the help they can.
The year for sure has not been good for the gaming industry. During the period of intense competition, the industry is struggling with the economic crisis. But the hopes are high that the tough time will pass soon and once again the gaming industry will bring something interesting and interactive for the gamers soon.
