EA is cutting jobs at its Australian mobile studio, Firemonkeys.
As reported by Kotaku Australia, the layoffs could affect up to two-thirds of staff and will see development on two major titles be shifted to an EA studio in Hyderabad, India.
Firemonkeys is currently focused on providing support for live service titles Real Racing 3, Need for Speed: No Limits, and The Sims FreePlay. The Melbourne-based studio’s racing division, which oversees the first two games, will be hit hardest by the layoffs.
A “monotitle” studio
The cuts have apparently resulted in the cancelation of multiple in-development racing games, including Real Racing 4, with EA execs telling staff that Firemonkeys is being turned into a “monotitle” studio that will focus solely on The Sims FreePlay.
An EA spokesperson confirmed that news in a statement to Kotaku, explaining the publisher is “making some changes to the structure of Firemonkeys Studio, allowing teams to focus on supporting live services for The Sims FreePlay.” The company didn’t confirm how many workers are laid off or whether any projects have been scrapped.
One anonymous Firemonkeys employee told Kotaku the mood at the studio is “fucking grim” following the cuts, while other sources claim the studio’s racing titles were “performing well,” but that the cost of development was cited as the reason for shifting development to India.
The latest round of layoffs comes four years after EA reportedly axed between 40 to 50 jobs at Firemonkeys so it could “shift teams to focus more on our live services.”
A wave of layoffs is currently sweeping over the game industry. In the past four weeks alone, there have been job cuts at numerous major studios including CD Projekt, Firaxis, Kabam, Relic Entertainment, Deck Nine Games, Brace Yourself Games, Deviation Games, Ubisoft, Plaion, Unity, and Phoenix Labs.
Game Developer has reached out to EA for more information on the Firemonkeys layoffs.