Two months after selling to Saudi Arabia in the biggest leveraged buyout in history, Electronic Arts is overhauling its gaming portfolio and laying off 400 people in its first wave of major post-sale cuts. A broad overview of the plan was shared with staff today in a joint email from chief studios officer Cam Weber and chief operating officer David Tinson. In it, the two laid out what games the publisher will still be investing in and which ones it’s changing directions on. Mass Effect is out. Star Wars Battlefront 3 is in.
“Today, we’re the number one publisher in Western HD gaming,” the email, a copy of which was shared with Kotaku, said near the top. “That’s an extraordinary position to lead from, and one we should be proud of. Yet our industry is changing quickly. Players have more choices than ever for their time and attention, competition is intensifying, and some of our biggest opportunities for growth are beyond the markets, platforms, and business models where EA has traditionally been the strongest.”
EA leadership said they had conducted a “hard look” at the business over the last several months and decided on three “strategic priorities” moving forward. The first is “saying no to some things we’re passionate about” to double down on what’s already successful. The second is reaching more players in places like Asia. The third is to “create entirely new ways for fans to engage with” sports. Add them all up and what do you get? A pivot from Mass Effect to sports gambling apps in China?
The rest of the email laid out more specifically what EA will still be making moving forward:
- More Battlefield
- Investing “heavily” in Apex Legends
- New shooter from DICE and Respawn (reportedly a new Star Wars Battlefront 3)
- Star Wars Jedi 3
- Marvel’s Iron Man
- EA Sports FC (formerly FIFA) and the rest of the annual sports franchises
- New open-world football experience called “Project Gridiron“
- Return of Fight Night
- A new Sims experience called “Project Evergreen“
- More Skate
The highest-profile cancelation is the upcoming Mass Effect game, which is also leading to the closure of BioWare after roughly 30 years. That team was reportedly about 50 people, accounting for around 12.5 percent of the incoming layoffs.
But EA said it is also scaling back the Skate team at Full Circle. Some developers there have already reported layoffs on LinkedIn. “For Skate, we’ve had a lot of success in bringing players into the game, and we need to create an experience that keeps them engaged over the long-term,” the email read. “To do that, we are making changes to the studio to have a more focused, smaller team to deliver on a very clear roadmap for our community that we believe will build a healthier and more sustainable business.”
The Sims is also getting retooled. Development on “Project Lotus” has been paused. Maxis will instead work on “Project Evergreen” for The Sims to “give the team more time to reach the full potential and vision for the game. “Our responsibility is to make the choices, provide the clarity, and create the conditions for our teams to do their best work,” Weber and Tinson wrote. “We also want to give every game we choose to build its best chance to succeed for our players and fans around the world. ”
While EA no longer answers to shareholders, it does answer to those who hold the billions in debt used to finance the $55 billion buyout. Back when that debt was being shopped around on Wall Street, Bloomberg reported that EA was promising $700 million in annual cost-cutting, including $170 million in “organizational efficiencies.” We now know at least some of what the company is gutting to service those obligations, but the cuts likely won’t stop there.