EA announces more layoffs, said to be hundreds of workers
While going through an organizational restructure, the gaming company says it had to make "difficult decisions to reduce the workforce in some locations."
As if a leadership shakeup, canceling of games, and one round of layoffs weren't enough, it appears that things are going from bad to worse for Electronic Arts. The gaming company announced Thursday that it's going through another round of layoffs.
"In recent weeks, EA has aligned all elements of its organizational structure behind priorities in new technologies and mobile," EA wrote in a blog post Thursday. "This has led to some difficult decisions to reduce the workforce in some locations. We are extremely grateful for the contributions made by each of our employees -- those that are leaving EA will be missed by their colleagues and friends."
On its Web site, EA writes that as of March 31, 2012, it has 9,000 employees worldwide. It's unclear how many workers are leaving but gaming news site Polygon is reporting that people familiar with the matter are putting the number in the "hundreds." Kotaku is reporting that its sources are saying up to 10 percent of the workforce may be leaving.
Besides the mass layoffs, it is also rumored that the company was shuttering its EA Partners label, according to Polygon. EA Partners is the company's publishing arm that brings in third-party games, such as Left 4 Dead, Shadows of the Damned, and Rock Band.
EA has experienced a rough last couple of months. The company's CEO, John Riccitiello, resigned from his position last month after taking responsibility for the company's financial shortcomings. Then, two weeks ago, EA confirmed it was laying off an undisclosed number of employees to "streamline operations." A couple of days later the company announced that it was shuttering three of its once-popular Facebook games, the Sims Social, SimCity Social, and Pet Society.
CNET contacted EA for more information on this round of layoffs. We'll update the story when we hear back.