(Corrects first paragraph to say latest major videogame
publisher instead of first)
March 29 (Reuters) - Electronic Arts Inc said on
Wednesday it would lay off about 6% of its workforce and reduce
office space, making it the latest major videogame publisher to
announce job cuts.
Technology firms have led the latest round of layoffs as
U.S. companies brace for a potential economic downturn amid
rising interest rates around the world.
Meta Platforms Inc and Amazon.com Inc announced a second round of job cuts this month. Tech layoffs
hit 63,000 in the first two months of the year, according to
data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.
EA, which had about 12,900 staff at the end of March last
year, expects to incur between $170 million and $200 million in
charges related to the restructuring.
"As we drive greater focus across our portfolio, we are
moving away from projects that do not contribute to our
strategy, reviewing our real estate footprint, and restructuring
some of our teams," CEO Andrew Wilson said in a blog post.
EA, behind the "FIFA" soccer videogame franchise and "The
Sims", will provide opportunities for employees to move to other
projects and where that is not possible will provide severance
pay and additional benefits, Wilson said.
Video game publishers are also struggling with a slowdown in
player spending in the face of decades-high inflation, a change
in fortunes from the meteoric growth witnessed during the
pandemic.
Video game sales so far this year were flat and spending on
video game content across platforms is down 2%, according to
analytics firm Circana.
Electronic Arts lowered its annual bookings forecast in
January after it delayed the release of a game based on the
"Star Wars" franchise.
Newly launched "Hogwarts Legacy" game from Warner Bros
Discovery topped the videogame sales charts in February,
according to Circana.
(Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika
Syamnath and Sriraj Kalluvila)
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