Digital Arts has reportedly laid off 300 and 400 individuals, in line with a brand new Bloomberg report, together with roughly 100 at Apex Legends studio Respawn Leisure. Respawn has additionally cancelled at the very least two early-in-development tasks, one in every of which was reportedly a Titanfall-based extraction shooter.
“As a part of our continued deal with our long-term strategic priorities, we have made choose adjustments inside our group that extra successfully aligns groups and allocates sources in service of driving future progress,” an EA rep stated in a press release supplied to the location.
Respawn individually confirmed its personal layoffs and cancellations in a fastidiously massaged assertion on X that, identical to EA’s, manages to keep away from the phrases “cancelled” and “layoffs” solely.
“As we sharpen our focus for the longer term, we have made the choice to step away from two early-stage incubation tasks and make some focused group changes throughout Apex Legends and Star Wars Jedi,” the studio stated. Individuals being out of labor by the cuts might be “provided significant assist,” Respawn stated, “together with exploring new alternatives inside EA.”
The Bloomberg report says one of many cancelled tasks, code named R7, was an extraction shooter set within the Titanfall universe. The opposite recreation was apparently cancelled earlier this 12 months.
Respawn made a degree of noting that whereas the information is dangerous, every thing can be advantageous, as a result of “our dedication to player-first experiences stays unchanged.”
For Apex Legends, meaning “increasing what Apex will be,” and “investing in what’s subsequent for the franchise—exploring daring experiences that push the boundaries of aggressive play whereas staying true to the spirit of competitors, creativity, and integrity that our neighborhood expects.” So far as Star Wars Jedi goes, effectively, sure, there’s going to be one other Star Wars Jedi recreation—no actual shock there.
Apex Legends stays large nevertheless it has been faltering considerably. In EA’s most up-to-date quarterly monetary name, CEO Andrew Wilson alluded to “Apex 2.0,” describing it as “a extra significant replace of Apex as a broad recreation expertise,” though he added that it would not drop till someday after the following Battlefield recreation, which is at present anticipated someday earlier than April 2026. In mild of those cuts, nonetheless, I do marvel if we may be listening to extra about it prior to anticipated. Maybe very quickly: EA’s subsequent quarterly monetary report is ready for Might 6.
