the company to cut 800 employees, or 6% of the workforce

Electronic Arts is cutting 6% of its workforce, equivalent to about 800 jobs, and reducing office space, the video game company said Wednesday.

“As we increase focus across our portfolio, we are moving away from projects that do not contribute to our strategy, reviewing our real estate footprint and restructuring some of our teams,” CEO Andrew Wilson wrote in a memo to employees. Layoffs are “the hardest part, and we are working through the process with the utmost care and respect,” he wrote.

The company expects to take impairment charges of $170 million to $200 million, according to an SEC filing. EA expects that the actions related to the restructuring plan will be “substantially completed” by the end of September.

Wilson said EA would provide severance and health care to affected employees, noting that layoffs had begun earlier in the quarter.

EA had just under 13,000 employees, according to a March 2022 quarterly report. In January, the company missed quarterly revenue estimates and issued a weaker-than-expected orders forecast.

CFO Christopher Suh said on the earnings call that EA will be “very deliberate,” with a particular focus on the “pace of hiring.”

A company spokesperson declined to comment on Wednesday’s announcement or to provide an exact number of layoffs.

EA joins a long list of tech companies in downsizing mode. The economic downturn and market turnaround led to mass layoffs in 2022 and a faster cut this year. Over 155,000 tech industry workers at more than 500 companies have lost their jobs by 2023, according to data from Layoffs.fyi.

SEE: Technical layoffs