Developers/Publishers for some of the well-known video game franchises like FIFA have now laid off over 700 employees. This comes down to an estimated 6% cut in the workforce. This comes after the company reported a $1.3 billion gross profit for its latest fiscal quarter.
In a blog post, CEO, Andrew Wilson said, “As we drive greater focus across our portfolio, we are moving away from projects that do not contribute to our strategy, reviewing our real estate footprint, and restructuring some of our teams.”
Company shifting focus?
While there was no specific mention of anything, it is believed that the lay-offs come from the recent shutdown of some mobile gaming titles.
The company last year announced that they would be stopping support for Apex Legend Mobile. The development for Battlefield Mobile was also ended. EA Sports MLB Tap Sports and F1 Mobile Racing will also cease operations.
All of these were pretty popular among the players, so it is unclear why the decision to stop development was taken. The company, despite its current reputation, has not made anything particularly bad recently.
Many believe that the company might be shifting its focus to other things. The company plans to “build games and experiences that entertain massive online communities”.
EA adding to the lay-off numbers
These layoffs now add to the ongoing cost-cutting measures that several big companies have been doing since last year. Several other big companies like Microsoft, Riot Games and Bungie also let go of a huge chunk of their workforce.
While others are cutting costs to increase profits, the case with EA is certainly baffling. As per Verge, these cuts are companies simply “copying” their peers. Whatever the case may be, this was not the first and will certainly not be the last in a lay-off spiral.
