Electronic Arts Lets Go of 350 Employees Amidst Internal Restructuring

[VSG]

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.



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[Zubasa]

Marketing department? Good riddance.
Given how most of the newer EA trailers are strait up false advertising.
Their PR department contains some of the most unhelpful personal to player complaints.

 

[Tartaros]

Marketing department? Good riddance.
Given how most of the newer EA trailers are strait up false advertising.
Their PR department contains some of the most unhelpful personal to player complaints.

Quite dehumanizing attitude you got there. Hope you won't get in a similar situation one day.

Also, it's quite shortsighted to think it was these people alone who decided EAs' focus of advertising. They are given shitty material to work and have to make it look good, it's not their fault Battlefront 2 was a pile of hot shit and the other games aren't really innovative nor cheap. And as for false advertisement, blame on deregulation who let these companies do that without real consequences.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

blame on deregulation who let these companies do that without real consequences.

Blame the people who kept filling EA's pockets with gold while they used such exploitative measures time and time again which made it an acceptable norm. Though granted, not everyone can help themselves. Gambling addiction can be a difficult habit to kick

If everyone boycotted EA and said "I'm not buying anymore EA games till they remove this shit" then of course EA would have to respond. But the problem is that even though the gaming community is one entity as a whole, we're just not very good at being completely united in the things that we do.

A load of people called for a boycott of Anthem when they messed with the loot drops. While a lot of people were very vocal about it on reddit, I bet you less than half of those who were shouting about it and nodding their heads in agreement with others, ignored the boycott and got their head stuck in the game.

Same with Metro Exodus. I'm sure the game sold moderately well because and people caved in and downloaded epic launcher to buy it. While the sales aren't as high as they could of been. They've already been handsomely compensated for it.

 

[Zubasa]

Quite dehumanizing attitude you got there. Hope you won't get in a similar situation one day.

Also, it's quite shortsighted to think it was these people alone who decided EAs' focus of advertising. They are given shitty material to work and have to make it look good, it's not their fault Battlefront 2 was a pile of hot shit and the other games aren't really innovative nor cheap. And as for false advertisement, blame on deregulation who let these companies do that without real consequences.

It is their choice to work there.
So yeah I have been in similar situations before, guess what happened?
I found a new job, because you will if you are a competent personnel.
Also EA is being the "good guy" and help them find new jobs.
I doubt EA is the kind of employer that treats their workforce nicely anyway, given how exploitative EA is in their nature.

 

[lexluthermiester]

EA is falling apart. They have done crap in the way of quality games. They've had a few decent games, and a few technology showcase games, but nothing of any real quality in the last decade. No one is going to miss them if they shut down.

 

[Crackong]

EA F up everything, now themselves.
GG

 

[rtwjunkie]

It is their choice to work there.
So yeah I have been in similar situations before, guess what happened?
I found a new job, because you will if you are a competent personnel.
Also EA is being the "good guy" and help them find new jobs.
I doubt EA is the kind of employer that treats their workforce nicely anyway, given how exploitative EA is in their nature.

So if you’ve been shitcanned from work, you might have some empathy. Employees don’t make the decisions. They just work with what they have been given so they can (many of them) provide for families, because good jobs aren’t waiting outside the door.

 

[Caring1]

Sometimes it's not the company at fault, but the culture of the employees.
If they've been getting a free ride for too long and not pulling their weight, sometimes it's best to burn the dead wood and start afresh.

 

[lexluthermiester]

So if you’ve been shitcanned from work, you might have some empathy.

Oh, I think everyone has been laid off or fired at some point in life. We can empathize. However, how much empathy do you expect for a situation involving EA?

 

[Vya Domus]

Quite dehumanizing attitude you got there. Hope you won't get in a similar situation one day.

Quite ironic.

 

[cryohellinc]

Marketing department? Good riddance.
Given how most of the newer EA trailers are strait up false advertising.
Their PR department contains some of the most unhelpful personal to player complaints.

What an ignorant person, clearly you have no knowledge whatsoever about what Marketing is and the colossal multitude of layers it incorporates.

 

[kastriot]

I heard EA was making good games in past, now is just another footnote in web pages.

 

[GoldenX]

Firing employees doesn't solve your problems, EA, you need a whole new management.

 

[Zubasa]

What an ignorant person, clearly you have no knowledge whatsoever about what Marketing is and the colossal multitude of layers it incorporates.

Implying I should somehow feel bad about what happens at EA after so many years?
It is nothing new, EA just like other poorly ran corporations starts laying off people that have the least to do with the problem until they either turn around or sink.
In this case I doubt EA marketing is all the innocent little lambs you would have hoped.

 

[cryohellinc]

Implying I should somehow feel bad about what happens at EA after so many years?
It is nothing new, EA just like other poorly ran corporations starts laying off people that have the least to do with the problem until they either turn around or sink.
In this case I doubt EA marketing is all the innocent little lambs you would have hoped.

I don't feel bad about what happens at EA one bit, however, you imply that it is somehow Marketings fault which is a totally useless aspect. Marketing is an essential aspect of any modern company, it delivers information to a potential customer base in one way or another. In set case of EA, information is rotten to the core. The fault itself starts from the head of a company - board members, and as far as I know, those are still the same. They make the key decisions, meanwhile, other workers get the blame and in the end - get booted.

If their board member resigned or got demoted - I would stand up and clap. Sadly I don't see that happening any time soon as scum that sits there will never take any responsibility for their actions.

 

[Zubasa]

So if you’ve been shitcanned from work, you might have some empathy. Employees don’t make the decisions. They just work with what they have been given so they can (many of them) provide for families, because good jobs aren’t waiting outside the door.

If you really need to support a family, you really wouldn't be picky about getting a 'good' job.
There are jobs out there, and as long as they are legal and ethical I wouldn't consider them 'bad'.

I don't feel bad about what happens at EA one bit, however, you imply that it is somehow Marketings fault which is a totally useless aspect. Marketing is an essential aspect of any modern company, it delivers information to a potential customer base in one way or another. In set case of EA, information is rotten to the core. The fault itself starts from the head of a company - board members, and as far as I know, those are still the same. They make the key decisions, meanwhile, other workers get the blame and in the end - get booted.

If their board member resigned or got demoted - I would stand up and clap. Sadly I don't see that happening any time soon as scum that sits there will never take any responsibility for their actions.

Don't get me wrong, I am not implying the marketing guys are the only ones to blame.
But I wouldn't feel bad or be surprised that anyone lose their job at EA when the company have been ran poorly for years.
Maybe I would if the sanitizer cleaning the toilet gets fired for the blame, but those are usually out-sourced anyway

 

[TheGuruStud]

Marketing = liars

Don't give them the time of day. The only ones more dishonest in a company are the execs.

 

[dorsetknob]

unfortunately, most of whom are on their publicity and marketing departments,

Dead wood meets chainsaw

 

[rtwjunkie]

The level of immaturity and downright meanness is in this thread is so sad and disheartening. People actually glad that other people are losing their jobs is totally sick. These are human beings, not the faceless entity known as EA everybody loves to hate.

 

[lexluthermiester]

The level of immaturity and downright meanness is in this thread is so sad and disheartening. People actually glad that other people are losing their jobs is totally sick.

Do you need a hug? Lay-offs happen. It's a part of life that sucks, but those people are not hapless children, they will find other jobs.

These are human beings, not the faceless entity known as EA everybody loves to hate.

Not true. EA used to be a great company when they actually cared about the artistry of making quality games. After about 2008, it all went downhill in a hurry. They've never recovered. EA isn't even a mere shadow of it's former self and needs to shut down...

 

[TheGuruStud]

Do you need a hug? Lay-offs happen. It's a part of life that sucks, but those people are not hapless children, they will find other jobs.

Not true. EA used to be a great company when they actually cared about the artistry of making quality games. After about 2008, it all went downhill in a hurry. They've never recovered. EA isn't even a mere shadow of it's former self and needs to shut down...

They couldn't even handle the success of BF1 and 2. Those are definitely two of the best MP games ever made and the 2nd one was the beginning of the end. I actually had to quit playing despite how much I loved it, b/c they introduced so many new bugs trying to patch the old ones. I haven't been back starting with BF4 and now it's just ruined.

Now, people will blame the devs every time (me included), but in the case of EA...I blame EA. They're the overarching hand of failure.

 

[fynxer]

Pretty words from Andrew Wilson that he has to fire his all so dear friends at EA not saying it is because of his countless f**kups that screwed up EA and several games.

Andrew Wilson step aside and let someone with REAL know how operate EA like a proper game company. NOT like you, trying to make games out of greed with loot boxes and premature buggy releases just make your bottom line look good end of quarter.

RockStar is a great example, take time to develop a really amazing games with few bugs and make shit loads of money.

 

[Crustybeaver]

Some cancerous comments in here. It's beginning to sound a lot like Reddit.

 

[natr0n]

Disney could buy them out and destroy them once and for all.