EA announced this morning that it has made "some difficult decisions to reduce the workforce in some locations." Kotaku reports through unnamed sources that these layoffs might include "as much as 10% of the workforce" at the publishing giant. As to what positions are being cut, outlets including Game Informer and Games Industry International (through similar, anonymous sources) are reporting that it may relate to the termination of EA's Partners program.
EA Partners is a label that has handled contracted publishing for studios that aren't owned by EA. The program has existed in some form since 1997, and has done work for Valve, Epic, Respawn Entertainment, and Crytek, among others. Much of the service provided by EA Partners was tied into getting third-party products such as The Orange Box into physical retail channels—a market that is being slowly devoured by digital distribution every year. The official announcement given by EA pins the layoffs on efforts to "[align] all elements of its organizational structure behind priorities in new technologies and mobile."
This comes in the wake of another batch of layoffs we heard about just a couple weeks ago, and the resignation of long-time CEO John Riccitiello back in March. We are keeping our eyes and ears open for further confirmation of the extent of these layoffs, and the status of the Partners program going forward.
