Respawn Cancels Games, EA Lays Off More Devs
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The gaming industry continues its rocky footing employment-wise as Repsawn Entertainment cancels two incubation projects while also laying off as many as 100 people.
As reported by IGN and through a statement released by Respawn on April 30th, one of Respawn’s incubation projects was already known to the gaming community, while the other was an extraction shooter taking place in the world of Titanfall. In Respawn’s post, they framed the cancellation of these two projects as difficult but necessary as part of “targeted team adjustments.” Those laid off are also apparently being offered meaningful support and are being considered for roles within the larger EA corporation.
Despite these efforts, the 100-person layoff is still a significant blow, especially since the layoffs appear to have hit multiple departments and the QA division of Apex Legends. As EA is currently unhappy with Apex's state, this choice seems counterproductive, but as usual, the business world moves in mysterious ways.
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Additionally, the cancellation of the incubating extraction shooter might have something to do with the tepid response to Bungie’s Marathon in the past few weeks. Despite a major push in publicity, with reveals of characters, the launch date, and collaborations with content creators for the reveal and the recent closed alpha, Marathon does not seem to have captured a great deal of excitement. EA might worry, perhaps justifiably, that by the time their own game would have reached later development stages, it would not have been able to survive in the wider gaming landscape. So, sadly, best to end its development now, rather than pouring months or years more effort in a direction that might not have seen success.
Regardless, more layoffs and cancelled projects is never a good thing. Hopefully these team members or former team members find stability and success in their future endeavors.
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Source(s): IGN
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