Respawn Layoffs Highlight a Harsh Truth About the Gaming Industry

Respawn had layoffs last week and about 100 developers lost their jobs. Along with that EA canceled two secret games one was a Star Wars first-person shooter and the other was a Titanfall extraction shooter.

Every time I hear that a studio is laying off workers. it makes me upset It's sad that the people who work so hard to create great games and stories can't feel secure in their jobs. The recent layoffs at Respawn show something we have known for a while there's something deeply wrong with the way the industry works.

No matter how successful a studio is or what it creates whether it's praised by critics or makes a lot of money it will never be enough for corporate publishers.

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What More Could You Ask For?

Respawn Entertainment is a very successful studio. It made the popular battle royale game, Apex Legends created the Titanfall series and developed the Star Wars Jedi games which are some of the best Star Wars games ever. It's hard to think of what more a publisher could want from a studio like Respawn.

EA has been firing employees recently. Along with 100 developers from Respawn 200 more were laid off across other EA studios. This isn't the first time. In January BioWare announced layoffs leaving fewer than 100 people working on the next Mass Effect. In March 2024 nearly 700 workers were also let go.

EA struggles to manage its studios well. Respawn on the other hand is successful with hits like Titanfall 2 and Apex Legends. If Respawn couldn't have done anything differently then it's not their fault. The problem lies with EA a publisher failing to manage itself.

The Line Must Go Up The Endless Pursuit of Growth

It’s sad but we have seen this happen before. Xbox said Hi-Fi Rush was a success and praised Tango Gameworks. but then they shut the studio down. Many games fail and lead to studio closures and layoffs but lately there have been just as many success stories followed by the same outcome.

The problem is clear: unrealistic expectations poor budgeting and the idea that growth can keep going forever. It's not enough to just be successful studios need to spend less and make more money.

When I think about the people making these decisions. I remember a tweet making fun of growth models that ignore context or industry trends. It says My 3-month-old son is now TWICE as big as when he was born. He will weigh 7.5 trillion pounds by age 10.