Many players believe that layoffs in the video game industry do not concern them. That it is something that does not affect them. They want to play, forgetting about the people behind making those same games, to disconnect and not have to worry about day-to-day problems. But the world doesn’t work that way. When massive staff cuts are announced, the games also suffer. Some of them not even being announced at all.
EA announced a few hours ago that they are going to carry out a restructuring that will result in the dismissal of 5% of their workforce. This means the dismissal of 670 employees out of the 13,400 employees they reported having last March. This has resulted in the closure of several offices, the closure of Ridgeline Games studio, as well as the cancellation of several games. Some of them unannounced.
According to Laura Miele in a letter to EA teams, Respawn has suffered the cancellation of one of its projects. An action FPS Star Wars game that everything points to being the rumored game of The Mandalorian. An unannounced game, but which insiders in the industry have been talking about for several months.
This is because EA believes that Respawn should focus on those games that “excite our players the most.” That means continuing with the Jedi saga and Respawn’s “own brand library.” Surprisingly, given the sour reception of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, the only library that Respawn is allowed to touch is Apex Legends, the popular fusion of hero shooter and battle royale from the studio that is one of the major pillars of the American multinational.
That’s why it is expected that we won’t see any major news from EA in the near future. Having incorporated part of the Ridgeline Games team into DICE, Ripple, and Criterion to continue working on Battlefield, the only certainty is that we can’t expect any risks from EA. Only continuations of what has already been proven successful.
Hence, the implications of these massive layoffs are tragic. Even for those who do not care about the dismissal of 670 people overnight, they must understand that this will also affect the type of games that are made and their quality. Leading us to a dark future for the industry, where we cannot expect much from what these companies do.
