Today multiple Respawn Entertainment employees have reported layoffs at the studio, specifically within the team working on Apex Legends.
We hear on X (formerly Twitter) from former Global Social Media Lead Alex Ackerman and writer Christal Rose Hazelton, both of whom have lost their jobs today.
The layoffs were confirmed by Senior Writer Pete Stewart and Level Designer Aaron Stump, who weren’t affected directly.
This comes among a larger wave of layoffs affecting Electronic Arts employees. The massive publisher has decided to cut 5% of its workforce as it restructures its priorities to focus on owned IPs and away from licensed ones.
This includes the cancellation of a Star Wars game that was in development at Respawn Entertainment.
The company has promised to work with those impacted by the layoffs “with the utmost attention, care, and respect” albeit no specifics have been announced about the extent of that work.
According to the announcement made back in February, communication of the layoffs to the employees affected will continue until early into the next fiscal quarter, which is scheduled to begin in April, so we may hear about more EA staffers losing their jobs in the coming weeks.
The company has recently announced d its latest financial results, which have been defined as “strong,” but apparently they weren’t strong enough to keep its workforce intact.
On the other hand, CEO Andrew Wilson has expressed the desire to use generative AI to improve the “efficiency” of game development, on top of monetization within its games.
Thousands of layoffs have hit the gaming industry between the second half of 2023 and the beginning of 2024, affecting the employees of many companies large and small like Sony, Microsoft, Bungie, 2K Games, Epic Games, Tencent, Amazon, Frontier, Team17, People Can Fly, Deck Nine Games, Supermassive Games, ZA/UM, and more, on top of several of Embracer’s studios.
