EA Labels President Frank Gibeau has announced Thursday that they are laying off an unknown number of employees from their Los Angeles and Montreal offices. This comes as part of the company’s “console transition” process, shifting development assets from the current generation of hardware to the next. On a positive note, EA is offering severance packages and outplacement services to affected employees.
This has been a difficult start to the year for the gaming industry. Earlier in the day, Ziff Davis stated that they would be closing down GameSpy, UGO, and 1Up. From January until the time of this writing, the industry has also seen layoffs from SuperBot Entertainment, Funcom, Gas Powered Games, Activision and Valve. On top of layoffs we have seen Impossible Studios, Outspark, Vigil, and Junction Point Studios all closing their doors. Add the draw-and-quartering of THQ to the pile and this is a very depressing start to the year.
We here at Operation Rainfall wish for a soft landing for those affected by these layoffs. In the meantime, I’ll be outside pouring out as many 40s as I can find.
