EA Lays Off Developers at Codemasters

EA has announced layoffs at Codemasters, the UK developer behind the popular F1 and Grid franchises. While not the first round of layoffs at EA, the announcement is the latest addition to a long list of staff redundancies within the gaming industry in 2023. Now, with the layoffs at Codemasters, EA may be looking to cut back on its investments in the racing genre.

Back in 2021, EA acquired Codemasters, outbidding Take-Two Interactive for $1.2 billion. The acquisition was followed by anticipation of renewed efforts into the Dirt, Grid, and F1 franchises. By May 2022, EA merged Criterion with Codemasters Chesire studio for Need for Speed Unbound. However, the new Need for Speed entry didn’t prove fruitful for EA, garnering mixed reception across the board. But even as the studio went on to release F1 23 and EA Sports WRC, along with expanded content for Grid Legends, the future of Codemasters continued to be challenging under EA.

Issuing a statement to IGN, EA confirmed the redundancies at Codemasters, although the company hasn’t shared how many of the staff have been let go. As per an EA spokesperson, the announcement is part of the company’s effort to make “small-scale organizational changes” that align its “teams and resources to meet evolving business needs and priorities.” The statement further read that EA will “continue to work closely with those affected by these changes, providing appropriate support throughout this process.” However, the publisher hasn’t divulged any details on what the coming months will look like for Codemasters IPs following the layoffs.

This isn’t the first time the publisher announced staff cuts in 2023. Back in February, EA reportedly laid off over 200 QA testers working on Apex Legends, followed by EA officially laying off 800 employees back in March, about 6% of its staff. While it remains to be seen how far these cutbacks will impact the publisher’s future slate of games, it wouldn’t be far off to speculate that more layoffs could be on the cards for a company of EA’s size.

However, EA is merely one of several companies that have laid off staff in the gaming industry in recent times. Throughout 2023, companies ranging from Epic Games, CD Projekt Red, and Microsoft to Embracer have laid off staff in the hundreds. So far, over 7,000 employees have reportedly been let go during the year, a troubling number even as 2023 turned out to be a massive year for successful releases. Either way, time will tell what the future holds for Codemasters and the racing genre at EA.