Electronic Arts is planning to lay off 1,000 employees, approximately 10% of their employees. In this layoff their also consolidating EA Black Box back into EA Canada. EA Black Box was spun off as a studio outside of EA Canada to work on such titles as Need for Speed but, with the layoffs arriving, they’re going to be merging the remainder of EA Black Box into EA Canada by June 2009. The remaining EA Black Box employees will continue working on Skate 2.
The pink slips should be issued by March 31, 2009 and we’re hoping the folks that have lost their jobs will find new jobs as soon as possible. An Electronic Arts representative said:
“This does not mean that the Black Box studio is closing. The studio is moving to our Burnaby campus to share the facility with EAC and other EA teams that operate out of our state-of-the-art facility. We will operate two distinct studios, each with their own distinct culture and teams, out of our Burnaby facility.” (gamespot)
EA hasn’t mentioned any specific franchise cancellation but we’re going to assume something is going to slip, it’s hard to imagine a company can lose 1,000 employees without impacting business operations. If EA was able to layoff 1,000 people without impacting day-to-day business, then they’re definitely hurting in the management department because that would be a ton of waste.
Big companies may cut costs during hard times but they said they’re, “implementing a plan to narrow its product portfolio to focus on hit games with higher margin opportunities. The company remains committed to taking creative risks, investing in new games, leading the industry in the growing mobile and online businesses, and delivering high-quality games to consumers.”
We’re curious just how much EA is willing to risk on “creative” endevours considering publishers are already hesitant to break new ground. The next few years should yield great opportunities for smaller developers to put on their creative hat and open new doors and opportunities for themselves.
Been a long time since I posted last. Bloody university getting in the way of life. Glad to hear that you guys are now part of the next gen. My opportunity has fallen through, as the Game store that I pre-ordered my console from tried to bait-and-switch me twice for a more expensive PS4 bundle which I did not want. That and I withdrew my pre-order as all the games I wanted to play have been deferred till next year. Probably will get it when Elder Scrols comes out.
@EA
Ok I will admit it. Humble bundle was a stroke of genius. EA tried competing with Steam for years via Origin with poor results. But Humble Bundle blew Steam clear out of the water. They may not be making money with this, but Humble Bundle is a brilliant positive publicity generation tool. That is something that EA needs more than money.
@The name is Bond. James Bond. A level 72 Dark Elf Warlock in service of Her Majesty the Queen.
I can see the point of this. Gamers are impressionable people, mostly in their teens and early adult years. They are perfect targets for criminals. If you are fresh-out-of college/university unemployed, your opinions can be easily swayed. Maybe that’s what the intelligence agencies are looking for.
@Neverwdning Story
The media industry rule of thumb is that a franchise should finish with a number 3. Anything that goes beyond that is just dragging the series out. Unless there is a reasonable time gap between the releases (i.e Final Fantasy, Halo).
Assasin’s Creed is now planing it’s 7th game. I am currently playing the 3rd one. Since I don’t do series marathons I will probably catch up to the series in 2020. That is rather daunting. Maybe they should really bring Prince if Persia back…
@Disney’s Indiana Wars: Raiders of the Lost Ark Strike Back. Excelsior edition.
To be honest, I think it is a good thing that Disney is sponging up all the abandoned IPs. Not only do they inject it with money, they do a good job marketing it as well. Indiana was idle for quite some time. He should be out of retirement kicking Nazi ass about now.
PS: I remember Disney wanted to acquire Mortal Kombat. And now imagine a 12+ Mortal Kombat experience. The horror…