Apex Legends is generally considered one of EA's more successful games, but not even that has saved Respawn Entertainment from additional layoffs.
Reports of layoffs at Respawn Entertainment have been circulating across social media, with the Apex Legends social media team among those impacted by the cuts.
Apex Legends is a free-to-play battle royale shooter set in the universe of Titanfall. The game was released in 2019 with a surprise launch -- with absolutely no marketing -- and became a massive hit, surpassing 25 million players by the end of its first week.
This latest round of layoffs is part of EA's previously announced reductions that will impact around 670 workers, or around five percent of the company's workforce. EA's Ridgeline Games, which was co-founded by Marcus Lehto to work on Battlefield's single-player campaign, was also previously shuttered. The layoffs are expected to be completed by the end of this month.
The layoffs are part of EA's shift in strategy as the company moves away from licensed IPs and focuses more on its own brands and existing games. Apex Legends would seemingly fall into the latter category and sources with inside knowledge of EA's plans say that the battle royale game is still a "huge priority" for the publisher moving forward.
In addition to focusing on its own IPs, EA wants to focus more on its "biggest opportunities" which include sports titles and their massive online communities. Both Madden and FIFA are known for their robust online communities through Ultimate Team. And with EA Sports College Football launching this summer, that could add another Ultimate Team-type community to the mix.
Unfortunately, this shift in strategy has resulted in some highly anticipated games getting canceled. In February, EA announced that Respawn's untitled Star Wars first-person shoot was canceled. While EA never went into detail about the game, it has been reported that the game was to center around a Mandalorian character.
Not all of EA's big licensed projects have been scrapped though. The company will still move forward with its Black Panther and Iron Man games, as well as a third installment in its Star Wars Jedi series. We're still not sure about the fate of EA's untitled Star Wars strategy game which was being developed through a production collaboration with Bit Reactor.
EA's cuts are part of a broader series of layoffs that have rocked the gaming industry this year. Riot Games, Epic Games, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Microsoft, Twitch, and Amazon Games are among the larger companies that have laid off part of its workforce in recent months.