Abstract:
American game publisher EA (Electronic Arts) announced a new round of business restructuring plan. The company will cut about 400 jobs, accounting for about 3% of the total number of global employees. This adjustment not only involves the previously high-profile closure of BioWare, but also affects many well-known game projects such as "The Sims" and "Skate".
According to an exposed internal memo, the scale of this round of layoffs is about 400, of which about 50 positions are from the development team of the new "Mass Effect" project that has been cancelled. EA management stated that the decision was made after months of evaluation of the company's business and hopes to focus resources on more strategic projects.
The Sims series is also affected. EA has suspended the development plan code-named "Project Lotus" and transferred more resources to another project called "Project Evergreen". Although official documents use "suspended" language, multiple media outlets report that the project has actually been cancelled.
The Full Circle studio responsible for developing "Skate" will also further downsize. EA stated in an internal document that the studio will transform into a smaller and more targeted team in the future in order to continue to advance game content according to the established roadmap. It is worth noting that since "Skate" entered the early access stage in September 2025, EA has always emphasized that its user participation has performed well, but the development team experienced a layoff earlier this year.
In contrast to the cuts suffered by some projects, several of EA's key games will still receive continued investment. Respawn Entertainment and DICE are jointly developing a new shooting game. According to information disclosed to the media by people familiar with the matter, this work is likely to be the long-rumored "Star Wars: Battlefront 3".
In addition, the "Battlefield" series, "Apex Legends", the "Iron Man" game developed by Motive Studio and the next "Star Wars Jedi" work will continue to advance. At the same time, the "Fight Night" boxing game series, which has been dormant for many years, was also revealed to be preparing to return.
EA executives stated in the memo that the company has been re-examining its business structure, operating model and future development direction in the past few months, hoping to concentrate resources to create products with the most potential in an increasingly competitive market environment.
Industry insiders pointed out that this restructuring occurred several months after the EA privatization transaction was completed. Previously, EA completed an acquisition transaction with a valuation of approximately US$55 billion, led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), Silver Lake and Affinity Partners. Relevant reports pointed out that this transaction caused EA to assume about US$20 billion in debt, and cost control and resource integration have therefore become one of the company's current important tasks.
Although EA is reducing the size of some projects and teams, the company said it will announce more detailed information on ongoing projects in the coming months and further explain future product layout and development strategies.
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