Coming hot on the heels of the bankruptcy and fracturing of THQ, it is now being reported that Electronic Arts has laid off a number of its staff in multiple locations. The mega-publisher announced in 2012 that it had exceeded $1 billion in revenue the previous year, although if this recent news is any indication, perhaps they were not doing as well as it appeared.
The company confirmed earlier today that a number of its development staff in Los Angeles and Montreal had been let go. The publisher declined to specify which studios were being affected, although multiple sources are confirming that Visceral Montreal, the studio behind the upcoming Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel, has been closed entirely.
In a statement posted online, EA Labels President Frank Gibeau confirmed the news, saying:
EA's leadership on these high-growth platforms allows us to retain and attract the industry's best talent. Thousands of our existing employees have been retrained and redeployed to work on the new platforms and initiatives. But when it is not possible to redeploy a team, we soften the tough decisions with assistance. This week we let some people go in Los Angeles, Montreal as well as in some smaller locations. These are good people and we have offered outplacement services and severance packages to ease their transition to a new job.
Gibeau's post was strangely titled, "Transition Is Our Friend," which seems to come off as a bit insensitive to those affected by the layoffs. Speaking with Kotaku, another EA spokesperson announced that it was part of adjustments meant to, "align staff and skills against priority growth areas, including new technologies and mobile."
Visceral Montreal was working on the third person shooter, Army of Two: Devil's Cartel, which is scheduled for release on March 26 on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. One has to assume that the layoffs were timed as to cut the studio once it had finished its current project.