Apex Legends developer Respawn has canceled an incubation venture this week, and laid off an unknown variety of people engaged on it within the course of.
This information was first reported by Insider Gaming, sourcing a now-unavailable LinkedIn put up from a former manufacturing coordinator who wrote that “The unannounced incubation venture I used to be a a part of for the previous yr was canceled this week, so I’m becoming a member of the group of extraordinarily proficient and sort folks within the video games business trying to find a new function.”
IGN has been in a position to independently verify that Respawn has canceled an unannounced incubation venture. IGN understands this was a multiplayer FPS (for which at least one job posting was listed last year) spun off by members of an inside crew that was previously engaged on a Star Wars FPS at Respawn, which was itself canceled final yr. IGN may also verify that a variety of people have been laid off as a part of the cancellation. Although we’re unable to verify the precise quantity, it has been characterised as “small” by a supply accustomed to the venture. IGN has additionally recognized not less than one particular person related to the venture who has clarified on LinkedIn that their departure was voluntary.
This continues an ongoing development of canceled initiatives, layoffs, and restructuring throughout EA, which kicked off in 2023 with the elimination of fifty jobs at BioWare and an unknown quantity extra at Codemasters. The culling continued virtually precisely one yr in the past when the corporate laid off 670 employees company-wide and shuttered a number of initiatives, together with the aforementioned Star Wars FPS. As a part of these cuts, round two dozen employees at Respawn misplaced their jobs. Since then, EA has restructured BioWare, transferring builders to different initiatives internally and shedding one other unknown variety of key people.
IGN has reached out to Digital Arts for remark.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You could find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Received a story tip? Ship it to rvalentine@ign.com.