Tuesday, March 26th 2019
Electronic Arts Lets Go of 350 Employees Amidst Internal Restructuring
It would be a safe bet to admit that Electronic Arts (EA) has not had the best 12, or even 24, months as a publisher. While their sports division continues to thrive, it may well be the one business unit holding down the fort. Their use of the Star Wars license has been dubious at best when it comes to execution, with reports on cancelled games and Battlefront II (the new one) not meeting expectations. Battlefield V has also not lit the field on fire, unless you are playing the new Firestorm battle royal mode in a literal sense, and the less said about Anthem the better. Apex Legends was introduced to much fanfare at launch, but the recent battle pass has soured many on the future of this new IP.
Perhaps it was a matter of when, rather than if, that the company would find a personnel restructure to be in order, and today just happened to be the day. EA CEO Andrew Wilson helped put out a statement on their website, recognizing a challenging world ahead and that they are "making deliberate moves to better deliver on our commitments, refine our organization and meet the needs" of players. These moves and changes involve letting go of as many as 350 people (out of 9000 total, or around 4%) unfortunately, most of whom are on their publicity and marketing departments, while also toning down their presence in Japan and Russia. We here at TechPowerUp are always saddened to hear such news, and take solace in knowing that EA is helping the laid-off personnel find new employment opportunities.
Source:
Electronic Arts
Perhaps it was a matter of when, rather than if, that the company would find a personnel restructure to be in order, and today just happened to be the day. EA CEO Andrew Wilson helped put out a statement on their website, recognizing a challenging world ahead and that they are "making deliberate moves to better deliver on our commitments, refine our organization and meet the needs" of players. These moves and changes involve letting go of as many as 350 people (out of 9000 total, or around 4%) unfortunately, most of whom are on their publicity and marketing departments, while also toning down their presence in Japan and Russia. We here at TechPowerUp are always saddened to hear such news, and take solace in knowing that EA is helping the laid-off personnel find new employment opportunities.
50 Comments on Electronic Arts Lets Go of 350 Employees Amidst Internal Restructuring
Personally, I haven't touched anything EA since they ruined NFS.
Marketing today is overestimated thing. You can market and sell products with success without actually needing any of normal ways of marketing. Ofc it requires a) not being an idiot and b) not being greedy idiot, which unfortunately rules out nearly any "major" publisher.
So yeah. I hope they find another job quickly, but compassion? No. Anyone can lose their job, for any sort of reason, and the way you take that is personal. No need for sympathy, for some people getting fired is a necessary step and for others its the push they needed to make something of their lives. I think the latter applies in this case, if you had any spine you'd have stepped out by yourself years ago if you had to work with false info.
But this topic really isn't about the individuals but about EA as a company restructuring. The fact it happens in marketing is telling, you only do that if your current strategy isn't working.
As to our other point about leaving, you don't know everyone's situation. for some it may be the last stop. Others may be three-quarters of a way to retirement, and by that time, they are trapped if they don't want to be destitute in their retirement years. We can never presume to know anyone's situation and think we know better where they should work, based on our imposition of our values on them.
I do agree with your basic sentiment, we can't begin to understand any individuals' walks of life, but we can get a pretty good impression based on their choices and actions, simply because those are the things that count to the outside world. You may not like that, but its the way we've built our society, always carefully looking at each other and passing judgement, its both blessing and curse.
Other beef I have is C&C series... they killed that with fire, the first games were amazing and they just went to shit for a long time.
I cant remember the last time I launched Origin.
Sorry to hear about the employees but EA needs to learn some how
I just went through this entire list: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Electronic_Arts_games
It turns out I that I don't hardly play EA titles. I counted all of 8 games that I have ever played and enjoyed. Only one of those is still going: Dragon Age.
You read it as toxic, I write it being brutally honest. NONE of us truly cares about these 350, it just looks nice to say we do. None of us is doing anything to help them anyway. Lets just be real about it.
So yes, Irony.I'd be willing to bet there's some sort of severance package involved, though we'll never know because it was not made public.This. Maxis, Westwood and the list goes on.. But again, in all fairness, the rot didn't set in until 2008/2009.