Layoffs hit EA studios in LA and Montreal

News
By published

EA has confirmed that an unspecified number of layoffs took place in Los Angeles and Montreal today, citing the transition to new hardware—namely the PlayStation 4—as the catalyst. The scope of the layoffs remains unclear, but sources such as Ubisoft designer Stephanie Harvey are claiming that Army of Two developer Visceral Montreal has closed entirely. [Update: Harvey has since expressed uncertainty about that statement.]

On the layoffs in general, EA President Frank Gibeau wrote in a blog post that these changes were expected as the company transitions to next-gen consoles and mobile games.

"Thousands of our existing employees have been retrained and redeployed to work on the new platforms and initiatives," wrote Gibeau. "But when it is not possible to redeploy a team, we soften the tough decisions with assistance. This week we let some people go in Los Angeles, Montreal as well as in some smaller locations. These are good people and we have offered outplacement services and severance packages to ease their transition to a new job."

Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel is currently a console exclusive, but whether or not EA's total layoffs will affect the PC gaming scene is yet to be determined. LA is the home of Victory Games, which is developing Command & Conquer, as well as Medal of Honor developer Danger Close.

After Medal of Honor: Warfighter's poor reception , the series is currently "out of the rotation" according to a statement made last month by EA COO Peter Moore. Meanwhile, Gibeau pointed out the "huge ovation" Battlefield 4 received when it was shown to 500 GameStop store managers earlier this week .

On a broader note, we may see more corporations adjust as they shift focus to next-gen consoles, and we'll be watching closely as the console market's gravity pulls on the tides of PC gaming.

Tyler Wilde
Tyler Wilde
Editor-in-Chief, US

Tyler grew up in Silicon Valley during the '80s and '90s, playing games like Zork and Arkanoid on early PCs. He was later captivated by Myst, SimCity, Civilization, Command & Conquer, all the shooters they call "boomer shooters" now, and PS1 classic Bushido Blade (that's right: he had Bleem!). Tyler joined PC Gamer in 2011, and today he's focused on the site's news coverage. His hobbies include amateur boxing and adding to his 1,200-plus hours in Rocket League.