EA ups job cuts to 1,100, to close 12 â??facilitiesâ??

12 unnamed EA facilities are to close and 1,100 additional staff are to lose their jobs in the wake of a third financial quarter that saw the publisher suffer $641 million in losses.

The increase in redundancies will see 11 per cent of EA’s workforce handed their notice, with confirmation that the company plans to reduce its portfolio of games spelling more bad news for developers employed by the huge company.

“Our holiday quarter came in below our expectations and we have significantly reduced our financial outlook for fiscal 2009, a clear disappointment,” CEO John Riccitiello stated. “We delivered on game quality and innovation in calendar 2008, with 13 titles rated 80 or above — more than any third-party publisher. We expect to build on this great quality record in the year ahead while delivering more profitability.”



CFO Eric Brown added: “Given our recent performance and the current economic environment, we are aligning our cost structure with a lower projection of revenue, resulting in approximately $500m of operating expense reductions in fiscal 2010 as compared with our previous plans.”