Not even the creators of Apex Legends, EA’s premier shooter, are safe from recent industry layoffs, with multiple members of the team confirming on social media that developer Respawn has been affected.
Though not personally let go, Respawn level designer Aaron Stump confirmed layoffs had hit the team in a post on X.
The Apex team was hit with layoffs today. It sucks seeing some of the people I’ve worked with for almost 3 years now get let go. Hopefully, they land on their feet sooner rather than later.
— Aaron (@AaronWStump) March 14, 2024
“The Apex team was hit with layoffs today,” Stump said. “It sucks seeing some of the people I’ve worked with for almost three years now get let go. Hopefully they land on their feet sooner rather than later.”
Peter Stewart, a senior writer at Respawn, additionally confirmed the news.
“Rough day at EA,” Stewart said on X. “Rough day at Respawn. Although I’m thankful to be safe, my thoughts are with everyone affected by the ongoing layoffs, and if there’s any way I can help or signal boost, I will do. It’s really hard to find the energy and joy to make games in this environment.
One developer who was laid off, social media lead Alex Ackerman, had been at the company for five years.
“After 20 seasons of Apex and five years at Respawn nearly to the day, my job has been made redundant and I have been laid off,” Ackerman said on X. “Working on this game and supporting this community has truly been the honor of my career and a highlight of my life. Thank you for everything, legends.”
EA announced in February it would be laying off around 5% of its workforce, or around 670 people. Part of those layoffs also included the reported cancellation of a Star Wars FPS in the works at Respawn.
A day prior to EA’s announcement, Sony confirmed it would be cutting over 900 employees across its games business. In January, Microsoft announced it would lay off over 1,900 members from its games division, which includes Xbox, Activision Blizzard, and Bethesda.
The layoffs at Respawn and EA are just the latest in a long string of video game layoffs since the start of 2024. In just the first two months of the year, an estimated 8,100 developers have been laid off, leading both fans and developers wondering, “How did we get here?” and what comes next.
