Electronic Arts closing R&D center in Israel, laying off entire team
Dozens of employees will lose their job as part of the global cutbacks at EA, which will include a total of more than 700 employees, accounting for 6% of the video game publisher’s workforce
U.S. gaming giant Electronic Arts is closing its R&D center in Caesarea, Israel. Dozens of employees were notified on Wednesday that they are being laid off as part of the global cutbacks at the company announced last month.
Full list of Israeli high-tech layoffs in 2022-23
CEO Andrew Wilson announced at the time that EA would be laying off more than 700 employees, or 6% of the video game publisher’s worldwide workforce. “Even amidst macro uncertainty, EA is operating from a position of strength,” Wilson said, only to announce the layoffs a few paragraphs later.
The R&D center in Israel was established following the acquisition of GameFly's local assets and employees in 2018 and was designed to develop a cloud-based game streaming service for EA, similar to Netflix's video streaming service.
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Electronic Arts, which has a market cap of over $35 billion, posted net revenue of approximately $7 billion in fiscal year 2022. Headquartered in Redwood City, California, EA is recognized for a portfolio of brands such as EA SPORTS FC, Battlefield, Apex Legends, The Sims, Madden NFL, EA SPORTS FIFA, Need for Speed, and others.
