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The wave of layoffs in technology companies does not let up and this time it was the turn of a significant number of workers related to Apex Legends who lost their jobs in the most informal way possible despite their hard work for the Battle Royale to have a good time in its recent seasons.
EA just fired its entire Baton Rouge studio, which is essentially their entire Apex Legends QA staff.
— Ben (@TopMarx420) February 28, 2023
According to a report from Kotaku, Electronic Arts ordered the dismissal of 200 workers between testers and quality control that were located in the Baton Rouge office in Louisiana, practically all the staff in charge of testing and quality control of the Battle Royale Apex Legends. Without disclosing the reason and without prior notice, the staff was summoned today at 8 AM by Magnit Global, the agency that hires them as they do not have a direct working relationship with the video game company. However, it was not a face-to-face appointment but took a video call via Zoom from wherever they were. There, they were simply informed that they were out of a job.
In this regard, EA sent a statement to Kotaku where it responded as follows: "As part of our ongoing global strategy, we are expanding the distribution of our Apex Legends testing team and ending testing execution that’s been concentrated in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, impacting services provided by our third-party provider. Our global team, inclusive of remote playtesters across the U.S., enables us to increase the hours per week we’re able to test and optimize the game and reflects a commitment to understand and better serve our growing community around the world."
Finally, anonymous sources revealed that after the call at Zoom, the workers were invited to take their things from the office and were offered 60 days' salary compensation as part of their severance. It is worth remembering that quality control personnel have historically been undervalued in the video game industry and it is precisely there that the first movements to unionize arose.
My friend still there said they were emailed about a zoom meeting today and then they immediately revoked their credentials. They're paying them 60 days severance.
— Ben (@TopMarx420) February 28, 2023
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It is a bit unfortunate to see more news related to mass layoffs since there have been so many other recent cases of different companies doing the same thing. It might almost seem like a coincidence that this is happening in such a short period of time, but the best we can do now is to hope that all those who are unemployed can be employed without any problems in the new studios they will be a part of.
What are your thoughts regarding this situation? Let us know in the comments!
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