18 replies to this topic

[bilcliff]

Source

According to a report on Startup Grind, a site that normally deals with tech companies and their founders, publisher Electronic Arts will very soon lay off as many as 1000 employees.

Originally planned to take place last week, the lay offs have reportedly been slightly postponed, though may now take place ” as soon as this week”.

The report claims between 500-1000 employees will be affected. That’s a lot of people, even for a company as big as Electronic Arts.

Startup Grind’s report goes on to speculate the layoffs are a result of a disappointing 2011 in which a few hit games (like Battlefield 3) had their sales overshadowed by an overspend on marketing, expensive acquisitions and disappointing subscriber numbers for big-budget MMO Star Wars: Old Republic.

We’ve contacted EA for confirmation, and will update if we hear back.

That's not good news. Its sad given they had BF3 & Dead Space 2 launch last year to significant success. I can see EA "playing it safe" & sticking to its "known" franchises, meaning no new IP. Which could hurt them even more, you know the whole beating a dead horse thing.

I wish Bioware could demerge from them.

EDIT: spelling & grammar

Edited by bilcliff, 16 April 2012 - 01:37 AM.

[Muchoman1]

sad for the individual people, but hopefully this teaches ea a lesson with all their paid dlc, online passes, endless sequels, ruining me3 and all that cr@p that is part of the ea-itis crippling the gaming industry

[CheeseMan42]

The fact that EA has had some poor customer service ratings lately, won worst company on the Consumerist, as well as the less than spectacular reception of Origin likely don't help.

[El_Capitan]

My experience with Origin and EA marketing.

Get 50% off any game with this coupon code on Origin: USETHISCODE1

I go to EA, select the game, and enter the coupon code. I get a message that the code doesn't work for the game, or that the code doesn't work, period.

I talk with EA customer service, they say it should work. They do nothing.

I then see that I get a coupon code for getting 40% off any game because it was my birthday.

I go to EA, select the game, and enter the coupon code. I get a message that the code doesn't work for the game, or that the code doesn't work, period.

I talk with EA customer service, they say it should work. They do nothing.

I give up. If this is my initial experience with Origin and EA customer service, then why the hell would I want to buy any of their products?

[AZNguyen]

Did you read the terms of the coupon? Might have been for a special condition. My Origin bday coupon was used to pre order bf3.

Big budget SWTOR was a flop :-) Told ya so.

Edited by AZNguyen, 16 April 2012 - 07:43 AM.

[El_Capitan]

Did you read the terms of the coupon? Might have been for a special condition. My Origin bday coupon was used to pre order bf3.

Big budget SWTOR was a flop :-) Told ya so.

Yup, on both occasions I even tried to buy the worst game, just to see if the coupon code worked. I wanted to use my Origin bday coupon for BF3 so I could take some benchmarks and play on occasion, but oh well. Must be something buggy with my account.

[dragonsdontfly]

I like some of the games EA has been a part of releasing lately: But I'd love to see them sink. Not the employee base: Just the tards calling the shots.

What people have got to realize is that EA does not develop games: They're a publisher.

BF3 for example: The game was developed by DICE. But not being able to distribute their own production to the masses: Had to have EA produce and distribute the game to retailers and consumers. (anyways they were locked in a while ago, With EA snagging copyrights and putting DICE on a leash with the Battlefield series.)

So basically: EA is really just the middleman with a false sense of authority that it pokes in DICE's face (I say false because without DICE- the Battlefield series dies overnight. Might want to consider the consequences of restricting their creative freedom, EA.) And EA's a really bad middleman at that. If DICE had their own way, BF3 would've been something incredibly ridiculously good. But someone always has to get in the way of progress, now don't they?

All I can say is: I still like the game. But I smell the golden poo every so often as I'm playing it. you just can't ignore it: It is definitely in there.

Edited by dragonsdontfly, 17 April 2012 - 10:43 AM.

[bilcliff]

I like some of the games EA has been a part of releasing lately: But I'd love to see them sink. Not the employee base: Just the tards calling the shots.

What people have got to realize is that EA does not develop games: They're a publisher.

BF3 for example: The game was developed by DICE. But not being able to distribute their own production to the masses: Had to have EA produce and distribute the game to retailers and consumers. (anyways they were locked in a while ago, With EA snagging copyrights and putting DICE on a leash with the Battlefield series.)

So basically: EA is really just the middleman with a false sense of authority that it pokes in DICE's face (I say false because without DICE- the Battlefield series dies overnight. Might want to consider the consequences of restricting their creative freedom, EA.) And EA's a really bad middleman at that. If DICE had their own way, BF3 would've been something incredibly ridiculously good. But someone always has to get in the way of progress, now don't they?

All I can say is: I still like the game. But I smell the golden poo every so often as I'm playing it. you just can't ignore it: It is definitely in there.

Yes EA may not develop the games, but they're the ones who tell their developer studios what projects they can and cant work on. They're also the ones responsible for choosing how much is going to be spent on marketing the game which Konami has been doing a really bad job of lately; But thats another story.

ontop of all that the publisher are the ones who say no when the devs ask for more time or money to implement new mechanics etc. They're responsible for forcing deadlines on the devs (the game must ship by x)

[Bubbaxm2]

They will blame piracy. lmao

[Fogel]

The employees I feel bad for.
The corporation I have zero sympathy for.

I have hated EA since my Nintendo days. They have always taken too many shortcuts with their games. True epitomy of gaming company more worried about making a profit than making a good game. I understand wanting to make money, that's why they exist, but the corporation as a whole lacks the pride they take in their work. You can make money and take pride in your work.

I don't have as much patience as most do with the developers they bought out. I just don't see the pride in the work I do with many other companies out there. I'm sure that EA is the Jerry Jones of gaming publishing and is probably the reason I can see so many faults in their games, but there isn't one dev under them I look forward to seeing a new game.

[FUZi0N]

They will blame piracy. lmao

Yep..

[iluvstrats2]

BF3 is the only game I have bought from EA. The only other game will be Crysis 3. Haven't really like EA at all over the years. But feel bad for the people that are getting laid off.