Electronic Arts on Tuesday said it would be laying off about 1,100 employees, or about 11 percent of its workforce, in order to cut costs.
The news came as part of EA's third-quarter earnings announcement, and could be the final word on a set of staff reductions it has been talking about since October. Then, EA said it would be letting go about 6 percent, and that number jumped to 10 percent, or about 1,000 people, in December.
Now, the world's largest publisher of video games said it will close down 12 facilities as part of the cost-cutting, and will likely incur restructuring charges of between US$65 million and US$75 million.
Previously, the company had said the layoffs and studio closings should be complete by March 31.
Overall, EA said it expects to reduce operating expenses in fiscal 2010 by about US$500 million.
While the video game industry as a whole has performed better than most others, and has been seen by some as recession-proof, there is little doubt that in order to stay competitive, most companies in the games business are going to have to streamline. Among those who have had to slash staff are Microsoft Game Studios, which was hit hard by Microsoft's recent announcement of about 5,000 layoffs, and Avalanche Studios, which cut nearly half of its 160 employees in October.
This article was first published as a blog post on CNET News.
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