Gamasutra has cited an anonymous source close to developers working at EA Mobile in Montreal – but not an Electronic Arts employee – who claims a new round of layoffs have hit the publisher. “There will be a transition period for infrastructure, customer support, et cetera, until mid-june” the source claimed, in part. “200-250 people cut today, the rest gradually.” The source added that while EA Montreal is still open, there would be a “gradual” wind-down until it was completely shutdown. Another Montreal-based source claimed that, alongside the layoffs, all in-development projects were shut down.
EA has since responded, stating that the layoff numbers from the sources were “too high”, although they could not confirm the exact figures. The representative also stated that “EA Montreal studio is not closing”, nor are there any plans to shut it down. The corporate representative did confirm to Gamasutra that layoffs did in fact occur today, and are the newest round of pink slips since February’s layoffs.
“EA is sharpening its focus to provide games for new platforms and mobile,” the statement read, in part. “In some cases, this involves reducing team sizes as we evolve into a more efficient organization.” The representative did not confirm whether it was only mobile teams, or Montreal that were affected by the layoffs. BioWare Montreal studio director Yanick Roy would later confirm in a Twitter message that: “For those wondering, plans for BioWare Montreal were not affected by today’s events”
(via Gamasutra)