Respawn has apologised to Apex Legends players who have experienced account resets and lost progress after the studio “messed up” a recent game update.
14.03.2024 - 19:21 / eurogamer.net / Respawn Entertainment / Andrew Wilson
Apex Legends developer Respawn is the latest studio to be affected by EA layoffs.
Word began circulating that Respawn Entertainment employees — particularly those on its Apex Legends team — had lost their jobs earlier today, as colleagues and those directly impacted started sharing the news on social media.
«The Apex team was hit with layoffs today,» Apex Legends level designer Aaron Stump posted. «It sucks seeing some of the people I've worked with for almost three years now get let go.»
«Rough day at EA. Rough day at Respawn,» senior writer Peter Stewart wrote on Twitter/X. «Although I'm thankful to be safe, my thoughts are with everyone affected by the ongoing layoffs, and if there's any way I can help or signal boost, I will do. It's really hard to find the energy and joy to make games in this environment.»
Apex Legends global social media lead Alex Ackerman confirmed she was one of those affected by the job cuts, writing, «After 20 Seasons of Apex and five years at Respawn nearly to the day, my job has been made redundant and I have been laid off. Working on this game and supporting this community has truly been the honour of my career and a highlight of my life.»
Respawn and EA have yet to publicly address the reports of layoffs at the studio (Eurogamer has reached out for comment), and it's unclear how many team members have been impacted. It's likely, however, these are part of the 670 job cuts EA announced in February, when CEO Andrew Wilson said the layoff process was expected to continue until «early next quarter».
As part of EA latest round of layoffs, the publisher said it would be moving away from «future licensed IP» toward its «owned IP, sports, and massive online communities». As a result, a Star Wars FPS in development at Respawn (reportedly a Mandalorian game) was cancelled, but there was no word on other projects being impacted at the studio.
Today's layoffs are only the latest in what's proving to be a devastating 2024 for games industry employees. In a little under two months, over 7,500 workers have lost their jobs, compared to the already more than 9000 layoffs seen across the entirety of 2023.
Respawn has apologised to Apex Legends players who have experienced account resets and lost progress after the studio “messed up” a recent game update.
Apex Legends is back with its customary April Fools update, adding the good old Mozambique variants alongside an exciting anti-gravity mechanic. Last year, the Apex Legends event featured a Mozambique that shot Nessies, along with six different versions of the gun, including the likes of Mozamblam and Mozambeam.
The hacker who disrupted the North American Apex Legends Global Series finals has said he did it «just for fun».
Developer Respawn has addressed the recent Apex Legends hacks.
Respawn Entertainment has confirmed that Apex Legends players taking part in a tournament were hacked mid-game.
Respawn has finally offered an update after the recent Apex Legends hacking incident. The latest edition of the North American regional finals of Apex Legends Global Series (ALGS) came to a halt as hackers made their way to the tournament. With no comment from the studio at the time, many Apex Legends players raised concerns over the possible vulnerability of the game. Thankfully, it didn't take long for an official statement from Respawn in an effort to dispel the security concerns.
In 2022, EA announced that Respawn Entertainment was partnering with Bit Reactor – a new studio comprised of former XCOM veterans – to work on a new strategy title based on the Star Wars IP. Since then, details on the project have been scant, but new tidbits about its development may have now emerged.
A hacking incident during the Apex Legends Global Series last night has caused wider concerns over Easy Anti-Cheat and whether it's safe to play games it's used in.
The North American finals of Apex Legends have been postponed, after hackers appeared to give competitors cheats mid-game.
Respawn Entertainment—the studio behind games like Titanfall 2, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, and Apex Legends—has been hit by layoffs as part of larger cuts taking place throughout EA. As spotted by VGC, various current and now-former members of the Respawn team, including Apex Legends level designer Aaron Stump, took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to talk about the layoffs.
EA has reportedly laid off some employees from the Apex Legends community team working at Respawn Entertainment. This move related to the Apex Legends team comes in the wake of a layoff announcement made by the California-based publisher last month.
Apex Legends developer Respawn Entertainment has suffered a round of layoffs as part of wider cuts at parent company Electronic Arts.