EA pauses Sims’ Project Lotus, trims Skate team and teams up Respawn and DICE

BioWare’s closure was only part of the restructuring Electronic Arts announced on October 21. In a memo to staff that was later published, EA said it is pausing work on an unannounced The Sims project, shrinking the team behind Skate and bringing Respawn and DICE together on a new game, according to Eurogamer and GameSpot.

The memo was signed by executives Cam Weber and David Tinson. Bloomberg reported that about 400 jobs are being cut across the company, including staff at BioWare. EA’s message does not give a layoff figure, but PC Gamer notes that it acknowledges some changes are difficult for the employees affected. EA said some of those employees may be able to find other roles within the company.

For The Sims, EA said it is focusing on a project code-named Project Evergreen and pausing a second one, Project Lotus, to give the Evergreen team more time. EA has not said what Project Evergreen is. EA said the Skate reboot has done well but that the studio will become a “more focused, smaller team.” According to GameSpot, the game will stay online.

In shooters, EA said it will keep making Battlefield games after Battlefield 6 and keep investing in Apex Legends. It did not say what the Respawn and DICE project is. Variety reported that it is a new Star Wars: Battlefront game, according to GameSpot, while Bloomberg said a Battlefront entry is likely, according to Game Developer. EA has not confirmed either report.

The Marvel Iron Man game and the next Star Wars Jedi game are still in development, but beyond those EA said it will work on “fewer simultaneous, large-scale projects.” At EA Sports, the company is sticking with EA Sports FC and its other annual sports games. It also has two new projects: the return of Fight Night and an open-world American football game code-named Project Gridiron. Eurogamer reports that both will be revealed in the coming months.

EA said it will close BioWare and its Edmonton office and end early development of the next Mass Effect, which it described as the work of a small team. The cuts come months after a group of investors including Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Silver Lake and Affinity Partners took EA private in a deal worth about $55 billion. PC Gamer reported that EA confirmed Andrew Wilson remains CEO.