EA's Respawn Entertainment Cuts Jobs and Cancels Projects

Respawn Entertainment, the studio owned by Electronic Arts (EA), has canceled two early-stage projects and reduced staff across multiple teams, affecting approximately 100 employees.

The developer behind popular games like Apex Legends and Star Wars Jedi announced on Tuesday that it made "the decision to step away from two early-stage incubation projects and make some targeted team adjustments" across its major franchises.

This move comes as part of a larger restructuring at EA that has reportedly impacted between 300 and 400 employees company-wide, according to Bloomberg.

"These decisions aren't easy, and we are deeply grateful to every teammate affected — their creativity and contributions have helped build Respawn into what it is today," Respawn stated in their announcement on social media. The company added that they are "offering meaningful support to those impacted, including exploring new opportunities within EA."

One of the canceled projects was reportedly an extraction shooter set in the Titanfall universe, codenamed "R7." This game was still in early development and "was not close to being released," as reported by Bloomberg's Jason Schreier. The news crushes fans' hopes for a return to the Titanfall franchise, which has been dormant since Titanfall 2 released in 2016.

The layoffs have affected various roles across development, quality assurance (QA), and publishing teams. According to IGN, the cuts have hit not only the teams working on the canceled projects but also those involved with Apex Legends and the Star Wars Jedi franchise.

In the midst of these changes, Respawn has announced a leadership shift. Daniel Suarez, previously the Senior Vice President of operations, has been promoted to general manager of the studio. He will now report directly to Vince Zampella, who was the previous GM of Respawn and will continue his role overseeing both Respawn and the Battlefield franchise at EA.

Looking forward, Respawn stated they will focus more heavily on their established franchises. For Apex Legends, they aim to not just deliver "competitive, innovative seasons" but also expand "what Apex can be." This aligns with EA CEO Andrew Wilson's previous comments about working toward an "Apex 2.0" update to address concerns that the game had "not headed in the direction that we have wanted."

For the Star Wars Jedi series, Respawn plans to "keep building new stories" with a goal to "raise the bar again for storytelling and gameplay" in the next installment of the franchise. The studio will also continue supporting the upcoming turn-based tactics game Star Wars: Zero Company, developed by Bit Reactor and scheduled for release in 2026.

These layoffs at EA and Respawn add to the troubling trend of job cuts throughout the gaming industry in 2025. In just the first four months of the year, approximately 2,000 developers have lost their jobs across nearly 60 companies, including notable studios like Ubisoft, Eidos Montréal, and NetEase Games.

EA is scheduled to report its Q4 and FY 2025 earnings on May 6, where more details about the company's restructuring and financial outlook may become available.