Layoffs across the gaming sector continue as Electronic Arts (EA) owned studio, Respawn Entertainment lays off 23 employees. This downturn in the workforce hit the development team behind the popular battle royale FPS shooter, Apex Legends.
The specific roles and departments undergone layoffs are currently unclear but Apex’s social handles confirmed the reduction of staff. This step from Respawn Entertainment aligns with EA’s plan to reduce its overall workforce by 5%.
Workforce Response
The workers are expressing some serious remarks on this layoff. The level designer Aaron Stump wrote on X to express his disappointment stating, “The Apex team was hit with layoffs today. It sucks seeing some of the people I’ve worked with for almost 3 years now get let go.”
The build engineer at Respawn Entertainment adds to the disappointment by using the term “completely gutted” by the layoffs.
“Tired of these fucking layoffs man,” wrote Conor Ford, security analyst on Apex Legends. “Losing friends at work is so fucked up.”
Impact on Apex Legends
The latest layoffs from an EA-owned studio cancel all the preparations for the upcoming Star Wars game from Respawn Entertainment. However, the two main titles, Apex Legends, and Star Wars Jedi games are still up and running with minimal impact on core operations. And these layoffs don’t mean that Apex will go down as a title. In contrast, the game has grown significantly in terms of active players since its first launch in 2019. The earnings from the May 2023 report back this statement mentioning a 20% rise in active members!
However, Apex Legends Mobile is no longer accessible for play. It was permanently shut down on May 1, 2023. The publisher, EA, stated that the reason behind the shutdown was the game’s failure to meet expectations in terms of both quality and quantity of content. Players were given approximately 90 days to enjoy the game on Android and iOS before it was discontinued permanently.
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