EA Games Laying Off 6% Of Employees

The poor economy is showing itself all over the place these days and it seems even the gaming industry is affected. EA Games is set to lay off about 600 employees to save money, cut costs and reduce their losses.

After experiencing losses of $310 million, which is up 63% from last year, EA has decided to lay off 6% of their employees in what they're calling a "global reduction." The main purpose of the lay-off is to incur a savings of $50 million. Hiring will also reduce drastically and open positions will be closed.

What's interesting though, is that revenue is up for EA Games. They're up 33% this year to $864 million. On the surface, it would be difficult to determine what caused the need to lay off so many, but it seems the company's purchase of Bioware and Pandemic last year cost them a pretty penny, resulting in a loss of $454 million. The areas most affected by this are the L.A. offices and Pandemic.