Electronic Arts has cancelled two projects at Apex Legends studio Respawn, and reportedly laid off hundreds of workers across its entire business.
On Tuesday, Respawn announced it had “made the decision to step away from two early-stage incubation projects and make some targeted team adjustments across Apex Legends and Star Wars Jedi.”
According to Bloomberg, these projects include an extraction shooter set in the Titanfall universe that was not close to release.
100 staff have been laid off at Respawn, it’s claimed, and a further 200-300 across other departments at EA.
A company spokesperson said: “As part of our continued focus on our long-term strategic priorities, we’ve made select changes within our organization that more effectively aligns teams and allocates resources in service of driving future growth.”
Respawn will continue to work on new Apex Legends content and the third entry in its Star Wars Jedi series.
It said: “These decisions aren’t easy, and we are deeply grateful to every teammate affected – their creativity and contributions have helped build Respawn into what it is today. We’re offering meaningful support to those impacted, including exploring new opportunities within EA.”
EA shares declined by more than 16% in January, losing around $6 billion in market value, after it made a pre-earnings announcement that FC 25 and Dragon Age: The Veilguard had failed to meet its expectations.
In a statement published last year alongside the announcement of nearly 700 company-wide layoffs, EA Entertainment president Laura Miele said that after a review, it had decided Respawn should focus on the Jedi and Apex Legends series.
Another Star Wars game was announced in 2022, helmed by former LucasArts veteran and Medal of Honor co-creator Peter Hirschmann, was cancelled.
