Electronic Arts layoffs 2026: Battlefield studios cut staff as live-service retention collapses
Summary
Electronic Arts laid off staff across all four Battlefield 6 studios - Criterion, DICE, Ripple Effect, and Motive
Steam concurrent players dropped ~91%, from 747,440 at launch to a 67,080 recent peak, despite 7M+ units sold in three days
Cuts follow EA shareholder approval of a $55B acquisition by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, expected to close Q1 FY2027
"We've made select changes within our Battlefield organization to better align our teams around what matters most to our community."
01
Battlefield 6 sold 7M units in three days but lost 91% of its players
Battlefield 6 became the best-selling US game of 2025 after its October launch
Steam concurrent players collapsed from 747,440 at peak to 67,080 recent 24-hour peak
Free-to-play spinoff Redsec has slipped to Mostly Negative recent Steam reviews
Rival Arc Raiders retained players far better: 235,475 recent peak vs. 481,966 all-time peak
02
Four studios, four countries cut simultaneously ahead of $55B PIF close
Criterion (UK), DICE (Sweden), Ripple Effect (CA), and Motive (Canada) all affected
EA disclosed no headcount figures, calling the layoffs a "realignment"
Full Circle, the Skate reboot developer, also recently hit with redundancies
PIF will own over 93.4% of EA upon close in Q1 FY2027, incentivizing pre-deal cost discipline
The franchise just won UKIE Game of the Year - confirming that acclaim no longer insulates teams from retention-driven restructuring
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