The studio behind Apex Legends, the Titanfall series, and the Star Wars Jedi series, Respawn Entertainment has been hit with layoffs.
The layoffs come as part of the recent series of ongoing cuts at Electronic Arts (EA) that would ultimately see around 5% of its workforce being affected.
Today, those being affected have taken to social media to announce the disheartening news of their layoff.
“The Apex team was hit with layoffs today,” level designer Aaron Stump said on Twitter. “It sucks seeing some of the people I’ve worked with for almost 3 years now get let go. Hopefully, they land on their feet sooner rather than later.”
The Apex team was hit with layoffs today. It sucks seeing some of the people I’ve worked with for almost 3 years now get let go. Hopefully, they land on their feet sooner rather than later.
— Aaron (@AaronWStump) March 14, 2024
Alex Ackerman, Apex Legends global social media lead, also posted on Twitter, saying “After 20 Seasons of Apex and 5 years at Respawn nearly to the day, my job has been made redundant and I have been laid off.”
“Working on this game and supporting this community has truly been the honor of my career and a highlight of my life.”
After 20 Seasons of Apex and 5 years at Respawn nearly to the day, my job has been made redundant and I have been laid off.
Working on this game and supporting this community has truly been the honor of my career and a highlight of my life.
Thank you for everything, legends ❤️— Alex Ackerman🌙 (@alex_frostwolf) March 14, 2024
The publisher announced in February that it would be undergoing a restricting plan that would see 5% of its employees being laid off, along with the closure of some offices and the cancelation of certain games.
EA’s reasoning for this current layoff plan is to pivot away from future licensed IPs and focus on their own franchises.
This is not the first time that EA has undergone a restructuring plan with hundreds of layoffs as the publisher announced a similar plan last March, which saw the job cut of approximately 6% of its workforce, impacting around 775 employees.
Unfortunately, this news is part of a broader devastating chain of layoffs happening across the game industry, affecting many companies regardless of size, like PlayStation Studios, Xbox Game Studios, Riot Games, and more, with thousands of workers losing their jobs.