Madden NFL 15 News Post

Layoffs Hit EA Tiburon?

06:16 PM - August 20, 2014 by Steve_OS

It appears EA Tiburon has laid off some employees from the Madden team, according to Inquisitr.

It wasn't long ago when some of the NCAA developers were impacted by the game being cancelled, while others were brought over to the Madden team.

These types of things typically happen at the end of the cycle. We have reached out to EA Sports for comment. We wish the best to those that were impacted.

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# 1 BreakingBad2013 @ 08/20/14 06:25 PM

So after they do that whole EA ACCESS thing, they still have to lay people off? Jeez. They are either mis-managing money, or someone is really doing a bad job.

If Madden was cancelled would the rights be unlocked again?

Wonder if they will release any names of who was laid off, or if it was a lot of guys we know nothing about.

# 2 Gossennator @ 08/20/14 06:28 PM

I would love to know what percentage of the money goes to the top guys. I wish we had more visionaries at the top spots instead of financial moguls.

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# 3 TexasFan2005 @ 08/20/14 06:29 PM

Stinks for the guys who lost their job. I'm interested to see if we'll hear any disgruntled ex-employee unravel the many mysteries that exist behind closed doors at EA.

# 4 charter04 @ 08/20/14 06:30 PM

If I was one of those who lost my job I wouldn't be very happy about how much I'm sure that Madden season commercial cost

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# 5 Mechcaniq @ 08/20/14 06:31 PM

This has not been a kind year for EA Football Dev teams

# 6 Iceman87GT @ 08/20/14 06:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BreakingBad2013


	So after they do that whole EA ACCESS thing, they still have to lay people off? Jeez. They are either mis-managing money, or someone is really doing a bad job. If Madden was cancelled would the rights be unlocked again? Wonder if they will release any names of who was laid off, or if it was a lot of guys we know nothing about.

As you'll see in the article this is not uncommon at the end of a development cycle. They hire animators and programmers as the game starts that part of the production process and then when the work is done they lay them off. Its how a developer keeps from wasting money for months at a time while they go through the planning stages of their next game.

Suckerpunch Productions just did the same thing the other day as work on Second Son and its standalone DLC First Light are finished. Now they will be planning their next project for a long while and will eventually rehire a similar amount of workers when they actually have work for them to do (for a developer like them the process is longer as they aren't on a yearly schedule and tend to spend several months writing the story, developing the ideas they want to touch on, and the type of gameplay they want to introduce).

Madden won't be cancelled, EA has too much money in the game (and they certainly wouldn't be preparing to cancel a commercially successful product before its latest edition comes out), but yes, if EA lost their minds and cancelled one of its most well-known and profitable IPs the license would become available to whoever wished to pick it up.

EA has a contract with the NFL to make a game with the license, if they aren't making a game they are fulfilling their part of the contract.

# 7 Syce @ 08/20/14 06:37 PM

EA should just move those guys that are laid off and move them to the NHL sector and help them.

# 8 Bowinkle08 @ 08/20/14 06:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by charter04


	If I was one of those who lost my job I wouldn't be very happy about how much I'm sure that Madden season commercial cost Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

lol true. paying hart and franco. layoffs suck though, no matter who the company is

# 9 HoundsOfHowl @ 08/20/14 06:38 PM

That #cancelaccess trend must've hurt the pocket books...

But that does suck, always hate hearing about layoffs at anywhere.

# 10 bxgoods @ 08/20/14 06:38 PM

Every company in this economy is having lay offs nowadays.
It doesn't surprise me anymore when I hear news of layoffs.

# 11 snc237 @ 08/20/14 06:42 PM

Plus they still had a last gen team working on madden. That team is probably no longer needed as this was the final push for the 360.

# 12 Iceman87GT @ 08/20/14 06:44 PM

Also the inquisitor article is garbage and poorly researched. They think NCAA 14 came out in September (as opposed to the series being cancelled in September), they also said that this layoff essentially cancels the series (again that happened in September).

Because the thing is so full of errors I'm not sure if we could trust the numbers they give in the update but apparently 4% of the Madden Team was laid off, and it was because they couldn't justify the expansion they saw when they brought on some members of the NCAA team. You know how some members of the NCAA team weren't fired but moved over to Madden? Well it appears the lower programmers from that move have been let go.

So essentially this is the yearly purge of a development cycle, sucks for those who get downsized but not a sign that EA or Madden are in trouble.

# 13 bxphenom7 @ 08/20/14 06:45 PM

Madden won't be cancelled, not even close. They'd just release what they have now. The NFL would rather that than cancel the game. As much as I can't stand EA most of the time, it really sucks to have people lose their jobs. I believe a lot of times it's partially due to the people on top staying with way too much money, as if they couldn't still live comfortably taking a decent to large cut so others wouldn't lose their jobs, and raise morale.

I'm also anxious to hear what any of them have to say about working at EA. Hope they find positions soon.

# 14 dkp23 @ 08/20/14 06:46 PM

New three year plan vision inbound.

# 15 Hooe @ 08/20/14 06:46 PM

Unfortunately this is pretty typical of the AAA video game industry. Release product, lay off staff.

I'm halfway surprised that EA Sports still staffs an NCAA Football team right now to begin with.

The article states that about 4% of the Madden NFL staff was let go. For whatever that number is worth. I would fathom to guess that that number is not large enough to have any significant impact on the direction of the series.

# 16 Shizz420 @ 08/20/14 06:48 PM

At least the stock is up for EA #ugh

https://www.google.com/search?client...w=1349&bih=774

# 17 iLLWiLL @ 08/20/14 06:51 PM

Geez. I don't know how many of those people layed off were programmers and graphic design artists ... but if many of them were, then their resources are wearing thin.

Time to dump off that exclusive license, EA/NFL ...

# 18 roadman @ 08/20/14 07:00 PM

They laid off many people three years ago, too.

I don't enjoy hearing anyone lost their jobs, but with the lawsuits brought against them recently, they needed to trim the fat and tighten the belt.

Unfortunately, that means jobs lost.

# 19 Cowboy008 @ 08/20/14 07:04 PM

I'm hoping they didn't lay off the people who are pushing for a more sim game. It will suck if we have to go through yet another 3 year plan. I liked the way Madden is heading and I'm hoping those guys are still there.

# 20 Sdot23 @ 08/20/14 07:15 PM

You know when Madden will get cancelled... When they fire John Madden. Case closed.

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