EA Cancelled Mandalorian From the Devs of Star Wars Jedi. Publisher Lays off 670 Employees
EA is cutting costs. The company has cancelled the Mandalorian FPS game that Respawn Entertainment studio was working on. It has also shut down the team developing the campaign of Battlefield 7.
Electronic Arts is another gaming company that has implemented large-scale layoffs. They will cover 5% of the team, which is about 670 people. This time, the news is even more dire than in many similar cases because one of the anticipated projects has been cancelled.
Mandalorian from Respawn studio cancelled
Respawn Entertainment studio is among those affected by cost reductions.
- First of all, a single-player FPS game set in the Star Wars universe was canceled.
- Two weeks ago, rumors appeared that this project by Respawn would allow you to play the role of a Mandalorian from the popular Disney series. It's hard not to get the impression that the developers themselves were responsible for this leak, trying to increase interest in the game and its chances of staying alive. If that was the devs' plan, unfortunately it didn't work out.
- The project was abandoned due to changes in the market, with players now primarily seeking open-world productions, service games, and titles that enable them to build large fan communities.
Regardless, the Respawn Entertainment studio will remain very busy. The team is still working on the development of Apex Legends and the third installment of the Star Wars Jedi series. The developers of the discontinued FPS are in a favorable position, as the majority of them won't face layoffs but will instead be relocated to other teams within the studio or to other EA teams, such as Motive (Marvel's Iron Man).
Reshuffles in the Battlefield series
A few days ago, we wrote that Marcus Lehto, who had been working on the narrative campaign for Battlefield 7 for two years, has left Ridgeline Games. Now we know that the entire studio will be closed.
Some developers from Ridgeline Games will be moved to the Ripple Effect studio to continue working on the Battlefield franchise, likely focusing on a free version featuring a battle royal mode. The Criterion Games team was given responsibility for overseeing the campaigns.
Fate of other projects
We also learned a bit about the fate of other EA projects.
- Some time ago, the company announced the end of support for mobile games F1 Mobile Racing and MLB Tap Sports. We now know that Kim Kardashian Hollywood and last year's The Lord of the Rings: Heroes of Middle-earth will suffer a similar fate.
- Work continues on Black Panther: The Game, which is being developed by a new studio within EA, founded by the co-creator of Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and Middle-earth: Shadow of War.
- However, the fate of the Star Wars strategy game, which the Bit Reactor studio is working on, is unknown, and Respawn Entertainment was only supposed to supervise the project. The lack of announcement from EA about canceling the game suggests that its production is currently ongoing.
In the future, Electronic Arts aims to prioritize its own brands and sports games, as well as build extensive online communities around its titles, despite investing in games from the Star Wars and Marvel universes.
