Ben-DutkaOdd, isn't it? When we finally wouldn't mind to see some money flowing EA's way, we find they're not doing so hot. Oh, the irony.
EA was forced to lay off about 6% of its overall workforce back in October, and due to under-performing sales of titles like Mirror's Edge , Need for Speed: Undercover and Rock Band 2 , Lazard Capital Markets analyst Colin Sebastian predicts more cuts will be made. According to Gamasutra, he believes those three titles aren't "meeting estimates" and this could translate to more layoffs. As a result, Sebastian lowered his predictions for the company's third fiscal quarter revenue, but only slightly from $2.14 billion to $2.07 billion. It's only "slightly" because other titles seem to have picked up the slack, and this includes Dead Space , Left 4 Dead and FIFA 09 , which are apparently performing at are above sales expectations. On the other hand, Sebastian is seeing "greater uncertainty" in the company's product schedule for 2009, and EA admits to still being in an "ongoing imperative to manage our cost structure." Said Sebastian:
"We believe further cost and franchise reductions are likely. Importantly, we believe EA is continuing to review its cost structure and franchise base, and it is possible that management will announce further cuts in headcount and the development pipeline (including existing franchises) over the coming quarters."
Okay, so you guys get how great Dead Space is, but despite a few flaws, Mirror's Edge is one of the year's best, too. So in this particular case, we have to ask you to reward EA for their efforts. We'd ask you to do the same with Rock Band 2 , but with the economy being the way it is, $60 is probably more than enough to spend right now.
