Electronic Arts Inc will axe around 800 jobs, as the video game company narrows its focus away from "projects that do not contribute to our strategy".
Chief executive Andrew Wilson told employees in a memo this week that around 6% of the video games company's current 13,000-strong workforce would be laid off, along with closing some offices.
Regulatory filings showed that the layoffs would lead to the maker of the FIFA computer games series expects to take impairment charges of up to US$200mln.
Under the restructuring plan, which is predicted to be mostly complete by the end of September, the California-headquartered group "must be focused on our strategic priorities: building games and experiences that entertain massive online communities; creating blockbuster interactive storytelling; and amplifying the power of community in and around our games with social and creator tools", said Wilson.
"These priorities align our investments with opportunities to make the biggest impact."
Hinting at some of those priorities, Wilson said the EA Sports FIFA 23 release from last September is on track to be the biggest title in its history, while shoot-em-up game Apex Legends is delivering a "strong" performance in its fourth anniversary, while The Sims series is "fueling imagination and engagement across its passionate community".
EA follows other tech companies that have been cutting staff numbers, with more than 1575,000 tech industry workers axed from more than 530 companies so far in 2023, including another 10,000 from Meta Platforms this month, 6,500 from Dell last month and a combined 22,000 from Google and Microsoft in January.
Last year, 1,052 tech companies cut a total of 161,411 employees, according to the Layoffs.fyi website.
Mass job cuts are “a rip the band-aid off moment,” said analyst Daniel Ives at broker Wedbush, as companies aim “to preserve margins and cut costs in a softer macro” environment.