Electronic Arts is laying off another group of people, according to reports. This time the entire staff of EA Mobile Montreal may have lost their jobs.
The new round of layoffs comes just a few weeks after the resignation of EA CEO John Riccitiello and the company justified the staff cut as part of its initiatives to streamline its operations and ensure the company is well-positioned for the upcoming console transition.
"EA is sharpening its focus to provide games for new platforms and mobile. In some cases, this involves reducing team sizes as we evolve into a more efficient organization. These are difficult decisions to let go of good people who have made important contributions to EA, and whenever possible we retrain or relocate employees to new roles. Streamlining our operations will help ensure EA is bringing the best next-generation games to players around the world," the company says in a statement sent to Kotaku).
Although EA has confirmed that layoffs have occurred, the company declined to specify on the number of employees or studios affected. Citing multiple sources close to the matter, Kotaku reports that nearly 250 to 300 employees of EA Mobile Montreal are affected by the move. Most of the quality assurance team and all of the developers at the studio are reportedly jobless now. It appears that the entire studio is being shut down completely.
According to a report from Joystiq, nearly 60 to 70 permanent employees were let go at EA Mobile Montreal in addition to over 100 people working under EA's contract system. "These are mostly quality assurance testers. We're told by one source, "If you walk through the office all you see is a bunch of already cleared out desks, and people cleaning out their desks," the report says.
