Following the announcement that EA is closing down Mass Effect developer BioWare, staff at the studio behind the latest Skate game have also reported suffering layoffs.
The live-service skating game was briefly mentioned as an ongoing active project in the memo EA sent to staff about the dramatic cuts, but an undetermined number of Skate developers said they had been let go from the studio behind it, Full Circle.
Seasonal creative director, John Epler, wrote on LinkedIn (via VGC): “Well, as of today, my role at Full Circle has been eliminated. Coming up on my 19 year anniversary in the industry — and all of that time spent at EA — I can’t say I’m sad. A little nervous, definitely, but I’m looking forward to doing something new.”
Senior game designer Adam Martinazzi also confirmed his departure. “I, like many of the other talented people at Full Circle, was let go today,” he said. “Part of me is sad and frustrated. The other part accepts that this is a ‘just part of the industry.' And the other other part is grateful for the time I got to spend working on a cool game with lots of awesome people.”
Another senior designer, David Milne, was among those affected. “Looks like my position at Full Circle has been eliminated. Sad to have to leave. I really enjoyed working on Skate and loved the team I worked with. But it’s on to the next thing now.”
Full Circle was previously hit by a wave of layoffs back in February. “The teammates affected are talented colleagues and friends who helped build the foundation of Skate,” Full Circle said at the time. “Their creativity and dedication are deeply ingrained in what players experience today. This decision is not a reflection of their impact and we’re committed to supporting them through this transition.”
EA's memo to staff had this to say about Skate:
"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. 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."
According to Bloomberg, 400 jobs are going across EA, amounting to 3% of total staff. 50 of these were working on the next Mass Effect before BioWare's closure. Just two weeks ago, Full Circle published a statement addressing mods following the viral launch of a fan-made modding platform called ReSkate. This platform allows fans to play the game offline, create private servers, make their own maps, and more. Full Circle acknowledged the importance of community mods, but stood firm against those that bypass paid cosmetics or make money off of new features.
Full Circle went on to confirm that it was aware that players want “more freedom and custom features,” and revealed that it was building “official, secure access tools that enable broader, deeper community creation.”
EA went private earlier this year with Saudi Arabian involvement. "This moment recognizes the extraordinary people whose creativity, ambition and passion have made EA one of the world's leading interactive entertainment companies," CEO Andrew Wilson, who pocketed a compensation package of $38.6 million for the 2026 fiscal year, said at the time. Wilson had Battlefield 6 to thank for strong performance for the fiscal year, but a record-breaking launch didn’t stop EA from laying off staff across Battlefield Studios.