Electronic Arts Cuts Nearly 350 Employees
Video games publisher, Electronic Arts, stated yesterday that it was laying off 5% of its 7,000-employee workforce, which translates to roughly 300-350 employees. One of the believed reasons for this job cut is the lower-than-expected sales of the Xbox 360, though EA spokesperson Trudy Muller has been choosing her words carefully when addressing the press.
Microsoft’s new video game console, the Xbox 360, has been in short supply since its launch in November. Sony and Nintendo are expected to release their consoles, the PlayStation 3 and the Revolution, later this year.
Muller said that the scarcity of Xbox 360s hasn’t helped her company, but it was not to blame for the layoffs.
“We’d do this regardless of how that system launched,” she said. “However, hardware scarcity does make the transition [to new game consoles] difficult.”
Guess they don’t want their new un-employees to go rioting Microsoft.
Other stated reasons for the layoffs involve EA’s realignment of the workforce “to develop games for the new game consoles and to expand markets around the globe.”
Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Morgan Securities in Los Angeles, said it appeared the company was trying to find the correct staffing level to match its revenue.
“The cost structure is a little out of whack,” Pachter said. “They clearly expanded their development capability the last three years trying to gear up for the next generation” of video game consoles.
Job cuts are aimed at the Northern California, Orlando and Vancouver offices. Thankfully, anyone working at the Playa Vista offices get to breathe a deep sigh of relief.
[via The LA Times]
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