The cuts this time were to the internal analysis and reviews team, the staff responsible for reviewing Metacritic trends for EA’s titles and providing a quick response before the journalists get involved. This technique is meant to allow a publisher to get an idea of how well or poorly the game will be received before it hits stores on launch. The advantages of this strategy presumably prevented EA from obliterating the team altogether.
Kat Bailey, now-former EA employee and games research analyst, revealed this latest layoff via Twitter:
At this time, it is not known how many people EA has laid off.
— Kat Bailey (@The_Katbot) June 18, 2013
These latest cuts follow EA’s previous attempts at “slimming down” and “transitioning” for new management this year. In April, the publisher closed down two studios, PopCap Vancouver and Quicklime Studio, laying off all staff. And in February, it cut staff from the Los Angeles and Montreal studios of Dead Space series developer Visceral Games.
It is not yet known whether this will be the last round of layoffs in EA’s plan to restructure the company.
