1,500 jobs to go at Electronic Arts as it replaces traditional games with social games
Electronic Arts have announced a further 1,500 job cuts.
In the Q2 earnings announcement, EA said:
EA has announced a plan to narrow its product portfolio to provide greater focus on titles with higher margin opportunities
This action will result in the closure of several facilities and a headcount reduction of approximately 1,500 positions, of which 1,300 are included in a restructuring plan. The majority of these actions will be completed by March 31, 2010. This plan will result in annual cost savings of at least $100 million and restructuring charges of $130 to $150 million.
The job losses will include 900 jobs in development, 500 in publishing and 100 within the corporate structure. Many studios have been hit including Black Box, Redwood Shores, Tiburon and Mythic. According to Kotaku, they also include the entire team working on Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight, and staff working at Sims-developer Maxis, social network Rupture and Pandemic Studios, the developers of Mercenaries and Saboteur.
As many as a dozen projects may have been cancelled, and EA is concentrating on franchises that generate over 2 million units.
The announcement of the job losses came on the same day as Electronic Arts announced the acquisition of Playfish for $300 million and an earnout of up to an additional $300 million.
Added to the Job Loss Tracker.
