EA details restructuring plan, laying off 10% of employees

by Alexander Sliwinski { Dec 19th 2008 at 10:05AM }

Sad news from EA: The company plans to lay off 10% of its workforce, representing about 1,000 jobs, by March 31, 2009. The new figure represents a 4% increase from the previously stated layoffs announced in October. EA's restructuring plan, which also includes "consolidating facilities," is expected to cut annual costs by $120 million.

Nine studios and publishing locations will be closed by the company, including Black Box Studio (Need for Speed) in Vancouver, British Columbia, which will move its remaining staff to EA's studio in Burnaby, BC -- the company recently killed plans for a third Canadian studio. The publisher also states it plans to focus on hit games with "higher margin opportunities." Although EA claims it's "committed to taking creative risks," there's nothing more that gamers gobble up like a good sequel ... year, after year, after year.

Tags: breakingnews, ea, ea-black-box, layoffs, restructuring

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Dr. @ Dec 19th 2008 10:10AM

Dammit.

JoeTheBlow @ Dec 19th 2008 10:16AM

9 studios, fucking hell.
Best of luck to those soon to be unemployed, good luck getting another job, though god knows where.

Anyone thinking of pursuing a career in games programming/design, time to get into plumbing or something instead.
Wish to god i'd listened to my dad and got into the trades instead of IT.

Dirty @ Dec 19th 2008 10:46AM

Trades are hurting too. I do fire sprinklers and there have been quite a few layoffs in our industry. Buildings aren't being built because no one can get financing.

Fucking hell though, good luck to everyone on job hunts right now.

Duke @ Dec 19th 2008 10:48AM

Yeah but all sorts of people are taking the hit right now. I remember growing up being told that if you got a job in an auto plant you could make bank and have job security to die for. Hell, when I was working selling equipment to that industry I saw a Mich. plant that had closed and the union workers still came in and read newspapers all day and were paid for it!

Times are changing out there.

Dr. @ Dec 19th 2008 10:55AM

Tell me about it. I'm working in the auto industry right now, and things are... unpredictable. My time off for the holidays starts today, and I'm still not sure when I'm supposed to return.

Bleu @ Dec 19th 2008 11:18AM

I am in I.T. and its great. I live in NYC so a job like this pays.......well not that well but with more certs I will get PAID. I.T. is the future people should get into it NOOOOOOW!

JoeTheBlow @ Dec 19th 2008 11:49AM

@ Dr.
Well that $17.4 billion bailout announced just now should brighten up your christmas!

@Bleu
250,000 IT people laid off so far this year. If you have a job now, its great. When you don't, it won't be as easy as you think to get another one, no matter how many certs you have.
Shitty, shitty times. *drinks heavily*

Shagittarius @ Dec 19th 2008 12:16PM

I can think of at least 2 occasions where plumbing lead to a career in videogames!

Sora @ Dec 19th 2008 5:40PM

"good luck getting another job, though god knows where."

*The next morning, on CoD 4 and 5*

EA studios: Infinity Ward is hiring. :)

Kye says: Ich bin keine Grammatik Nazi! @ Dec 19th 2008 10:19AM

Confirmed: Madden '09.

Killjebus @ Dec 19th 2008 11:26AM

Madden '09? Dude, that came out August 12th 2008. Since the 1st Madden on the Sega Genesis...John Madden Football, they have always been a year ahead.

Tough times for all...a BIIIIIIG TY and FU to the Neocons that made it happen.

Sony's policy of buying up studios or making more will more than likely pay off even more...now that 3rd parties are hurting and those that are left will focus on a few core franchises that make big money OR make cheap (I'm looking at you wii) shovelware games that take little time and effort for the return.

Meanwhile, Sony can continue (maybe not as much) to take chances on NEW franchises (I'm still looking at you Nintendo) that 3rd parties cannot afford to do during the WORST economic crisis this 3rd Planet from the Sun has ever seen.

Best of luck to you all during these troubled times, and I am confident that we and the world will come out of this stronger, and more importantly more UNITED than ever before.

Happy Winter Solstice and a Merry New Year to you all.

sam @ Dec 19th 2008 11:33AM

@Killjebus:

Isn't EA bigger than Sony's game software department?

Or if you are comparing against Sony as a whole as being 'able to afford' something, well, the entire firm is cutting 8,000 jobs (admittedly that's 5%, not 10%) so it's not necessarily throwing-money-around season up in there.

Duke @ Dec 19th 2008 12:12PM

[Insert Sony is the best company ever comment here]

Killjebus @ Dec 19th 2008 12:33PM

Duke and Sam,

I would have mentioned Nintendo as one of the companies that can take chances with NEW IP's but we all know that Nintendo does NOT do that.

Duke the Dickhed, you are an ass. If you want to be my stalker more power to ya, but make it interesting instead of trying to come off as someone incapable of satire.

Duke @ Dec 19th 2008 3:39PM

As always you turn to nasty name calling and attacks when someone points out how weak your comments are. All you do is continue to give the same bs hyperbole regarding Sony that you always did.

Also, if you think that someone replying to your tired commentary is stalking then you are even more full of self importance that I imagined. Get over yourself.

nealbailey @ Dec 19th 2008 6:06PM

I wouldn't be knocking EA with stupid comments like "Madden 09 confirmed". EA took a huge risk with new IPs like Army of 2, Dead Space, and Mirror's Edge and all had good reviews and all were commercial failures. Doesn't make sense to innovate and loose money when your business is built on re-packable licensed content.

Its a sad time for this industry.

Haggard @ Dec 19th 2008 10:21AM

Dammit EA, what have you learned? Stop making new and original franchises!

Kye says: Ich bin keine Grammatik Nazi! @ Dec 19th 2008 10:22AM

It's a bad time for most people regardless of trade.
Went I went to uni (both of them) people with the qualifications I was trying to get were in high demand. Now, jobs are few and far between :(

I may as well just sit here with a sign.

Will blog for money.

Bleu @ Dec 19th 2008 11:36AM

Or you can win the lottery....hey you never know. LOL

Archon @ Dec 19th 2008 10:24AM

Uh, gaming industry recession proof? Yeah, right...

igetgames @ Dec 19th 2008 12:37PM

Yes, right. When people go to the store to buy new games (they are still flying off the shelves, check out latest NPD) they've got less money to gamble on unproven franchises, so they fall back on something safe - COD5, GOW2, GH4, etc. There's a recent article on Gamasutra[1] that details this quite nicely.

If the recession has hurt anything in the industry it's new IP.

[1] http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3882/npd_behind_the_numbers_november_.php

In A World (XBL) @ Dec 19th 2008 2:43PM

The fundamentals of the gaming industry are strong.

Jason @ Dec 19th 2008 10:24AM

i am glad that EA is still committed to take creative risks!!! Brutal Legend!!!

Duke @ Dec 19th 2008 10:49AM

The problem is they might take less risks in the future.

Ash @ Dec 19th 2008 10:27AM

http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2008/11/5/

ScottG13 @ Dec 19th 2008 10:34AM

Its a tough economy. EA's doing the best in can with what it has. Good product will generate sales.

Dr. @ Dec 19th 2008 10:39AM

Sadly, I think the sales figures show that this simply isn't the case.

ScottG13 @ Dec 19th 2008 10:53AM

Good product IS generating good sales. Maybe not what they want, but for new IP, its tough to sell a million. I bet Dead Space 2 will sell a million. Mirror's Edge 2 should do better. Rock Band is too pretty terrific and doesn't seem to be saturating the market the way the GH series has. I really like what EA has done this year and have bought more EA product that ever. The economy is in a bad place and its tough for EVERYONE not named Blizzard or Nintendo.

Deeznuts420 @ Dec 19th 2008 10:38AM

we finally got a piece of the pieeeeeeEEeeEee

Mabui @ Dec 19th 2008 10:38AM

Vancouver is a dirty city anyway - I only spent a day there and the very first street I walked down was East Hastings. I spent a night in a $250 hotel - that had mold in the bathroom and left the next day.

Though, the hobo igloo made out of shopping carts and trash bags was impressive.

Mr Khan @ Dec 19th 2008 10:39AM

Isn't Black Box more importantly their Skate group?

Levi @ Dec 19th 2008 10:48AM

the EA articles are so disheartening. I loved Dead Space, and if you can get past the intermittent frustrations on the first play through, Mirror's Edge is awesome as well. My 2 favorite big box titles of the year for sure, and they sold the least out of the recent EA releases.

I lol'ed at the pie chart though.

WRE @ Dec 19th 2008 10:49AM

That better not be the Dead Space team, motherfuckers!

*shakes fist*

HyperNexus @ Dec 19th 2008 4:37PM

Nah, the Dead Space guys should be fine... they're doing Dante's Inferno apparently, and EA has said that Dead Space is an IP they plan to continue with.

Matt Rix @ Dec 19th 2008 10:52AM

Yeah, Black Box is the Skate group. I'm really hoping they aren't getting rid of that franchise. That would be horrible.

I'm pretty sure this means that they'll keep making it though:
"The Black Box development teams and associated game franchises will move to the nearby EA studio location in Burnaby, British Columbia."

Levi @ Dec 19th 2008 2:01PM

hope Skate 2's not put on the backburner because of this. It sounded like they were doing some pretty cool stuff with it. Getting off your board to explore the town, climbing fences and ledges and what not to find new skate spots. That's half the fun of real skating

Carlos @ Dec 19th 2008 11:08AM

Technically it was supposed to be the 3rd EA Studio in Vancouver that was scrapped. EA owns BioWare in Edmonton and there is an EA studio in Montreal as well.

(The Award-Winning) dark_inchworm @ Dec 19th 2008 11:23AM

So basically, we stand a good chance of seeing the now-decent EA revert to the EA we knew two or three years ago.

How nice.

&rew @ Dec 19th 2008 12:44PM

I hope the TM part gets fired, then I will be one step closer to own the EA logo.

SpydaKat 17 @ Dec 19th 2008 12:59PM

It's a damn shame that games like Dead Space sold so few copies. That game was amazing, the sound scheme alone could make it my personal game of the year. However I can see why it may have fallen shorten, people want the most value for their money and that value sadly(in this case) comes from multiplayer games.

Deck @ Dec 19th 2008 1:57PM

Well that sucks. Hopefully those who will be getting laid off can get back on their feet soon. But as we all know, who knows when that can happen.

As for the games, its unfortunate. Even if they are still committed to attempting a new IP here and there, it probably wont be as many. Which is unfortunate, they did great with Dead Space and Mirror's Edge. Just wish the sales could have been higher for those. But as someone said above, people fall back on the familiar franchise games when they only have money to buy one or two instead of five.

baconaholic @ Dec 19th 2008 4:24PM

The answer to EA's problems is to release a new version of Madden before the start and end of each season.

HyperNexus @ Dec 19th 2008 4:34PM

Welcome to one of the sad truths of this world... it's really disappointing to hear news like this after EA actually DID take creative risks recently with Dead Space and Mirror's Edge, both of which I enjoyed very much, and I've been disappointed to hear they're not selling as well as I know they deserve to.

Also, as for this whole thing of the EA of old being infamous for pumping out sequels, it would seem like they might be headed back in that direction, because as has been said, people will go for familiar brands... but surely EA is aware that gamers did not think terribly highly of them when they were pumping out one mediocre sequel after another, and surely they are aware that people like them better now that they are actually putting out interesting new IPs.

My hope is that EA will strike something of a balance... that they'll explore new IPs when they can (the economy may need to improve a bit first though), and that for their established IPs, they'll put out a well-honed sequel every now and then rather than turning on a sequel-making machine. I would dearly love to see Dead Space 2, which apparently is in development already, but I do hope they take their time to make it a worthy sequel.

lordlogical @ Dec 20th 2008 3:43AM

This is unfortunate, but if EA is to continue in their steps as a creative design company, and not what it has come to be, this is what needs to happen. They need to get money for your sequels from somewhere.

joeymoto @ Dec 20th 2008 2:11PM

It's definitely a safer option for EA to churn out their annual Madden franchise compared to trying fresh, innovative IP's such as Dead Space...
It looks like the gaming industry is suffering from the recession after all...

*sighs* Goes back to Fallout 3...