Around two dozen Respawn employees have been laid off, part of a series of ongoing cuts at EA that will ultimately see around 5 percent of the company’s workers lose their jobs.
Reports of the layoffs began circulating on social media on Thursday, with Apex Legends’ social team among the areas impacted. IGN understands that these layoffs are part of the reductions announced in February that will impact around 670 workers. The layoffs are expected to be completed by the end of the month.
EA’s reasoning for the layoffs was that it was pivoting away from future licensed IP to its own franchises, making the Apex Legends layoffs somewhat surprising. Nevertheless, IGN understands that EA plans to continue investing in the development of Apex Legends going forward, with a source with knowledge of EA’s plans insisting that it’s still a “huge priority” for the future.
After 20 Seasons of Apex and 5 years at Respawn nearly to the day, my job has been made redundant and I have been laid off.
Working on this game and supporting this community has truly been the honor of my career and a highlight of my life.
Thank you for everything, legends ❤️— Alex Ackerman🌙 (@alex_frostwolf) March 14, 2024
In addition to the Respawn layoffs, EA has canceled a previously announced Star Wars FPS that is believed to be centered around a Mandalorian character, though work on the next Jedi game, Black Panther, and Iron Man is continuing. EA also shuttered Ridgeline Games, which was co-founded by Marcus Lehto to work on Battlefield’s single-player campaign. EA has been aggressively restructuring since 2023, including splitting its business into EA Sports and EA Entertainment.
EA’s cuts are part of a broader series of layoffs across the games industry that have seen thousands of workers lose their jobs at Riot, Epic, and other companies. We highlighted some of the human cost of these layoffs in our own reporting, including how they’ve disproportionately impacted disabled workers.
Kat Bailey is IGN’s News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.