Electronic Arts lays off hundreds, cancels ‘Titanfall’ game

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(Bloomberg) — Electronic Arts Inc. is laying off hundreds of workers and canceling a Titanfall game that was in development at its Respawn Entertainment subsidiary.

Between 300 and 400 positions were eliminated, including around 100 at Respawn, according to a person familiar with the cuts. The company had about 13,700 employees at the end of March 2024.

“As part of our continued focus on our long-term strategic priorities, we’ve made select changes within our organization that more effectively aligns teams and allocates resources in service of driving future growth,” Justin Higgs, a spokesman for the Redwood City, California-based company, said in a statement.

The canceled project, code-named R7, was an extraction shooter set in the Titanfall universe, according to people familiar with its development. It was not close to being released.

In a post on social media, Respawn said it “made the decision to step away from two early-stage incubation projects and make some targeted team adjustments.” The other project referenced in the statement was canceled earlier this year,  the people said.Respawn is known for the Apex Legends and Star Wars Jedi titles, and the company said it would continue working on the next Jedi game as well as new seasons and an overhaul for Apex Legends.

Earlier this year, EA reduced its bookings estimate for the fiscal year following the miss of its latest soccer game, EA Sports FC 25. The company alsoshrunk subsidiary BioWare following the release of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, which it said missed sales expectations by 50%.

Electronic Arts said it would cut about 5% of its workforce in February 2024 and roughly 6% of its workforce in March 2023.