JP
It seems even the video game industry is feeling the tough economic squeeze these days. Just the other day we reported that Free Radical has indeed entered into administration and cut many of their employees loose. Well not it seems its EA’s turn to cut back.
The large video game publishing company EA is reportedly going to be butting 10 percent of their staff in an effort to cope with economic times. This 10 percent makes for 1,000 jobs. The layoffs are suppose to be completed my March 31st 2009. This layoff is 4 percent larger than the one they announced in October.
After putting their reconstructing plan into action and “consolidating facilities,” EA hopes to cut annual costs by $120 million. EA will close nine publishing studios including Black Box Studio (Need for Speed) in Vancouver, British Columbia, which will move its remaining staff to EA’s studio in Burnaby, BC. The recent plans for opening a Canadian studio have been tossed out all together. The company plans to focus on games that are big hits with “higher margin opportunities.”
