We recently got word that Rock Star Games ordered their staff to return to in-office work instead of doing it remotely. Rock Star's move was to help prevent leaks, like the one in December when its highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto 6 trailer was leaked just hours before its official premiere.

Many are criticizing rock stars' moves, while others are looking on the bright side. At least those employees still have jobs!

It's been a rough February in the video game industry, where many companies had to issue layoffs. We now get word that Electronic Arts, the parent company and publisher of many fan-favorite studios, games, and series (Star Wars Battlefront, Mass Effect, Burnout, Dead Space, Apex Legends, and The Sims, to name a few), has started to close down several of its studios, including a major one in Seattle.

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Ridgeline Games and Cliffhanger Games are newer studios created by EA (Ridgeline starting in 2021 and Cliffhanger in 2023). Ridgefield has been working on the next installment of the FPS series Battlefield, where Cliffhanger has been working on a Marvel's Black Panther project.

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EA plans on "winding down Ridgeline as a standalone studio." Whereas Cliffhanger Games will, for the most part, stay intact. Many team members will be moved to Los Angeles to continue working on projects. It's still too early to say what the full impact will be on these studios or the projects that were under development in each.

This is just a small part of the massive layoffs hitting the gaming industry, with over eight thousand employees losing their jobs in 2024. Regarding EA, this is part of the 2nd wave of layoffs that the company is doing to help reorganize the company. The reasons for the layoffs include rising costs of mainstream game development, market correction, fallout from the pandemic, labor issues, and market saturation.

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