Amid growing rumours, gaming giant Electronic Arts (EA) confirmed late last week via gaming news website IndustryGamers that it was laying off an unspecified number of workers at its Burnaby studio.
EA indicated it was undergoing a “transformation” and while the circumstances were unfortunate the layoffs only affected a “small number” of staff.
An EA spokesperson provided the gaming industry publication with the following statement:
“EA in Vancouver is transforming its studio to align with EA’s transformation to high-growth digital formats, including online, social gaming and free-to-play. Employees in our B.C. studio are learning new skills and working on digital games and services, and there are many examples.
“The Need for Speed World team in Burnaby is leading the digital transformation with 11 million registered players. As the B.C. studio makes this transformation, a small number of employees are being impacted while most others are being retrained, redeployed and rolling on to new projects.”
Jennifer Harrison
@JHarrisonBIV