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Electronic Arts has laid off a number of development staff in both Los Angeles and Montreal, the publisher confirmed today.
We're hearing from multiple sources that they've shut down Visceral Montreal, the studio behind upcoming shooter Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel, but EA wouldn't confirm or deny that news.
However, in a statement to Kotaku, an EA spokesperson confirmed layoffs:
Today EA internally announced some adjustments to select development teams to align staff and skills against priority growth areas, including new technologies and mobile. Many employees are being retrained for new positions; however a small number will be released. These are great, talented people and we wish them well. EA is growing globally, and we expect our headcount to increase this year.
When asked whether Visceral Montreal would shut down, an EA spokesperson said "Not disclosing impact on individual teams or studios."
EA's Frank Gibeau also addressed the layoffs in a post on the company's website:
EA's leadership on these high-growth platforms allows us to retain and attract the industry's best talent. Thousands of our existing employees have been retrained and redeployed to work on the new platforms and initiatives. But when it is not possible to redeploy a team, we soften the tough decisions with assistance. This week we let some people go in Los Angeles, Montreal as well as in some smaller locations. These are good people and we have offered outplacement services and severance packages to ease their transition to a new job.
Visceral Montreal is the developer behind shooter Army of Two: Devil's Cartel, scheduled for release on March 26 for Xbox 360 and PS3.
