EA outlines franchise plans after 400 layoffs and BioWare closure

Electronic Arts has published its franchise plans following the layoff of about 400 people, 50 of them at BioWare. The company is closing BioWare and its Edmonton office, and early development on Mass Effect is being discontinued. The plans were laid out in an email to staff from Chief Studios Officer Cam Weber and Chief Operating Officer David Tinson, which EA also posted on its website.

The email names three strategic priorities. The first is to say no to some projects and concentrate on the biggest opportunities. The second is to expand reach across platforms, business models and markets, with Asia given as an example. The third is to build interactive entertainment experiences, with a focus on EA's relationships in sports. EA also describes itself as the number one publisher in Western HD gaming.

On the action side, Battlefield stays a key franchise, with Respawn and DICE working together on a new project. EA will keep investing in Apex through new multiplayer modes and experiences. Marvel's Iron Man and the next Star Wars Jedi game continue, but EA says it will work on fewer large-scale action-adventure projects.

EA SPORTS will keep investing in FC and its wider portfolio. Two new projects are in development, with details promised in the next few months. Project Gridiron is a social-first open-world experience for EA's American football portfolio. The other is a new Fight Night boxing game, the first since the 2011 installment, now in pre-production.

For lifestyle games, EA will keep developing The Sims and skate. Full Circle, the developer of skate, is being changed to form a more focused, smaller team. EA will focus on the Sims title codenamed Project Evergreen and pause Project Lotus. 80 Level notes that Kotaku reported some developers have already posted about layoffs on LinkedIn. More detail on the restructuring is expected at EA's Global Town Hall in November.