Rumor: EA to lay off 500-1000 employees [UPDATE]
Poor sales and huge marketing budgets blamed for the job cuts.
Update: EA has denied the report. In a statement to MCV, it said: ““There are no lay-offs as such, we always have projects growing and morphing. At any given time there are new people coming in and others leaving. EA is growing and hiring and building teams to support the growing demand for digital games and services.”
Original story: Ex-EA man Derek Andersen of StartupGrind is reporting possible job cuts at the publishing house. According to Andersen, about 500-1000 employees will be laid off, which represents between 5% to 11% of the company’s total workforce.
Andersen’s inside sources say the job cuts are a result of huge marketing budgets and under-performing games. EA put $30m into the marketing for Battlefield 3, which to-date has sold around 13m units. The publisher also shelled out for the promotion of Star Wars: The Old Republic to even lesser effect, as the MMO failed to garner any interest with declining subscriptions and an average 3m units sale.
Part of the blame is also sliced across CEO John Riccitiello who has yet to make a substantial impact after his return in 2007. The company’s stock price has dropped from $61 to a shocking $16 over the years.
EA has yet to comment on the report.
