This past February, EA closed their Visceral Montreal studio, and now it looks like another Montreal studio has been hit. According to GameInformer, EA Montreal mobile division has been hit with a large number of layoffs in unspecified departments. At first, reports came out that it was in the mobile division, but now we're learning that the layoffs were not so centralized within EA Montreal.
A source told Gamasutra that around 200-250 people were laid off, and all projects in development have been terminated. He also mentioned that while EA Montreal is still open, it's only a matter of time before the studio gradually shutters completely.
"EA is sharpening its focus to provide games for new platforms and mobile. In some cases, this involves reducing team sizes as we evolve into a more efficient organization," the company said in a statement to Joystiq. "These are difficult decisions to let go of good people who have made important contributions to EA, and whenever possible we retrain or relocate employees to new roles. Streamlining our operations will help ensure EA is bringing the best next-generation games to players around the world."
In the wake of EA winning the Consumerist's poll for Worst Company in America, this certainly isn't helping EA's public image.
