EA’s UK studios dodge the axe

While rumours and reports continue to swirl about the publisher’s restructuring, insiders at Electronic Arts’ UK studios have told Develop that their teams are safe.

Guildford-based studios Bright Light (casual and family games) and Criterion (developer of Burnout) will not see redundancies, despite the latest wave of cut-backs.

Representatives from both studios have told us that they will not be affected by the latest lay offs, which is seeing up to 1,000 staff dropped from the publisher/developer’s vast operation.

That’s in a stark contrast to what’s going on at the likes of Black Box and Tiburon – developers of the publisher’s flagship titles such as Need For Speed and Madden, which have both dropped staff this week. EA Mythic also laid off some QA staff.

Those studios have cut back ahead of reorganisational plans that were announced just before Christmas and will be detailed when EA discusses its third-quater financial at the start of February.