EA Lays Off Staff Across Battlefield 6 Studios Despite Record-Breaking Launch

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EA has laid off an unspecified number of employees across its Battlefield studios, affecting workers at Criterion, Dice, Ripple Effect, and Motive Studios.

This news comes just months after Battlefield 6 delivered one of the most impressive launches in the franchise's history. The game sold a record-shattering 7 million copies in just three days, topped the Steam charts, and peaked at 747,440 concurrent players on Valve's platform.

It was even crowned the best-selling game of 2025 in the United States. So naturally, hearing about layoffs in the wake of all that success feels a bit jarring.

According to IGN, employees are being told that the cuts are part of a "realignment" across the Battlefield organization.

All four studios are said to remain operational, but the layoffs appear to be touching multiple teams across different offices.

An EA spokesperson told IGN the changes are meant to "better align our teams around what matters most to our community." They emphasized that Battlefield is still the "biggest priority," and they’re "continuing to invest in the franchise, guided by player feedback and insights from Battlefield Labs."

That messaging is fairly standard corporate language, but the timing does raise some questions given the context surrounding the game's post-launch performance.

While Battlefield 6 came out swinging, it has had a rough few months since its October 2025 release. Steam reviews have slid from "Mostly Positive" down to "Mixed," and daily concurrent player numbers have dropped sharply.

According to SteamDB, the game's peak player count on Steam over the past two months was 97,000, with most of the time hovering around 50,000 to 70,000 concurrent players, which is a 90% drop from its launch-day highs. Of course, Steam numbers don’t tell the whole story, as the game is also available on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Still, the decline is noteworthy and may have been sharper than EA expected.

Player frustrations have been building for a while now. Community criticism has centered around heavy monetization practices, the use of generative AI for in-game cosmetics, and a slower-than-expected content rollout.

Then there is RedSec, Battlefield 6's free-to-play battle royale mode, which has struggled to find its footing. The mode launched to a mixed reception from both players and critics, and its Steam user review rating for recent posts currently sits at "Mostly Negative."

Adding further weight to an already difficult period for the franchise, Battlefield's franchise head Vince Zampella passed away in December 2025 following a car accident. EA described his death as an "unimaginable loss."