Report: Maxis, Full Circle, Motive, Respawn and Ripple Effect targeted by EA during sweeping layoffs

An hour ago, EA announced a layoff round that will result in the closure of Mass Effect developer BioWare and widespread job cuts across the publisher's entire studio portfolio.

In an internal email obtained by Vertical Slice, EA confirmed BioWare has been shuttered but failed to disclose which other teams would be targeted. 

An anonymous source told Vertical Slice that The Sims developer Maxis and Skate custodian Full Circle had been hit. Multiple LinkedIn posts have provided corroboration.

In a post on LinkedIn, Maxis senior creative director Anna Huerta confirmed her role was one of those eliminated by the Saudi-owned corporation. 

"After some incredible accomplishments at EA, my role as Senior Creative Director of The Sims was impacted by todays restructuring. I'm incredibly sad that I wont get to continue working alongside such talented people on projects we care so deeply about, but I'm looking forward to whatever comes next," she wrote. "I love making games, but what I value most is working with people who share a passion for creativity, collaboration, and building a strong studio culture."

At Full Circle, employees including seasonal creative director John Epler, senior designer David Milne, and senior game designer Adam Martinazzi all confirmed they have been laid off.

Battlefield developer Ripple Effect, which worked on Battlefield Portal (a platform that allowed players to create custom matches) and was purportedly developing a "new experience" for Battlefield 6, has also been impacted. Again, multiple workers posting on LinkedIn—including character artist Corey Thomas, outsourcing artist Brandon Garcia, and technical artist Turner Spring—confirmed the breadth of the layoffs. 

The full extent of the cuts remains unclear. Vertical Slice has reached out to EA for comment.

Update [22/10/26]: Multiple employees at Battlefield 6 and Marvel's Iron Man developer Motive Studio have been laid off. That's according to another flurry of posts on LinkedIn, where staffers including concept artist Brandon Le and senior gameplay designer Jamieson Shearer explained their jobs have been cut.

Apex Legends studio Respawn has also seemingly been impacted despite EA claiming it intends to "invest heavily" in the free-to-play shooter, with workers such as UX project manager Randall Wong and operations product manager Catheryn Grant having lost their jobs. Both said they worked at the company for over a decade.