Digital Arts has firm reportedly shut down Seattle-based sport studio Cliffhanger Video games, not even two years after saying the founding of the studio and revealing its flagship sport: an open-world motion sport based mostly on Marvel’s Black Panther superhero.
In keeping with IGN—which first reported on the closure—the information was delivered to EA staffers in a letter despatched by EA Leisure president Laura Miele (the second-highest-paid government at EA in 2024), who instructed employees that the transfer was a part of a technique to “sharpen our focus and put our inventive power behind probably the most vital development alternatives.” Miele reportedly referenced different current selections alongside these strains, probably together with the corporate’s choice final month to put off over 300 builders throughout its studios and cancel an Apex Legends spinoff in improvement at Respawn Leisure, in addition to January’s arguably quiet layoff that impacted quite a few builders at EA-owned BioWare.
It is unknown if any builders impacted by the reported Cliffhanger Video games closure got here to the crew following a reassignment from BioWare or Respawn. EA apparently additionally laid off employees on its cellular and central groups. Recreation Developer has reached out to EA relating to these occasions and can replace the story pending a reply.
The drastic closure raises large questions on EA’s technique and its relationship with licensed initiatives, which have beforehand made up a large portion of its launch pipeline. Miele apparently instructed workers that the corporate is continuous to “make investments” in Motive Studios’ Iron Man sport (one other licensed venture), and the third Star Wars: Jedi sport in improvement at Respawn Interactive. (Respawn can be supporting the event of BitReactor’s Star Wars technique sport Star Wars: Zero Firm).
Why do the sensible enterprise brains at EA preserve bungling large video games?
In 2024 CEO Andrew Wilson introduced that the corporate would spend $150 million to put off 5 p.c of its workforce, and shift away from its reliance on third-party licensing to rely by itself mental properties.
Nevertheless, that help appears to have already got waned because the groups behind EA-owned properties like Dragon Age or Titanfall (higher identified at present for its battle royale spinoff Apex Legends) have been on the receiving finish of the ‘sharpened focus’ reportedly talked about by Miele. Layoffs at each studios adopted a 12 months the place government compensation reached a collective over $60 million regardless of a interval of sizable layoffs on the time. IGN experiences that the Battlefield, Sims, Skate, Mass Impact and Apex Legends franchises stay EA’s major non-sports franchises, although the corporate’s actions frequently forged doubt on these priorities, such because the cancelling of assorted spinoffs of the Titanfall/Apex Legends collection and obvious shake up its sequel technique for The Sims, placing that collection in one other anxious place.
This additionally places much more strain on the builders of the Battlefield collection, who’ve gone by means of a number of reorganizations and management adjustments since the underperformance of Battlefield 2042.
So what different “vital development alternatives” is EA pursuing? Generative AI, for one. Thus far, EA nonetheless hasn’t proven off any of its AI initiatives past a literal cardboard field degree—but it surely may be entering into generative AI voice appearing, if the mass exit of the Apex Legends French dubbing forged is any indication.
