200 Apex Legends testers reportedly fired in abrupt Zoom call

apex legends baton rouge layoffs

Baton Rouge studio decimated in shock announcement

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Electronic Arts has reportedly fired the testing team for its blockbuster hero shooter Apex LegendsAccording to a report by Kotaku, the publisher released the entirety of its Baton Rouge-based testing team — believed to be some 200 workers — in an ‘out of the blue’ Zoom call held yesterday.

News of the layoffs came suddenly when affected employees took to social media, understandably stunned and upset at the event. According to other former workers, speaking anonymously with Kotaku, the team was called to an urgent, mandatory call with contracting agency Magnit Global at 08:00 on Tuesday morning, where they were informed that the entire Baton Rogue Apex Legends QA team was being disbanded, effective immediately.

Reportedly, QA team management was unaware of the coming events, and thus no preparations had been put in place for the handling of the announcement or the termination of the employees. It is claimed that affected staff were then asked to collect their belongings under security supervision and leave the office. Full-time supervisors on the team will be afforded a 60-day severance.

In an email to Kotaku, EA was typically mechanical when referencing the sudden layoffs.

“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,” wrote the publisher. “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.”

“Testing games is an integral part of delivering the best experiences for our players.”

EA Lays Off Over 200 Apex Legends Testers Over Zoom Call [Kotaku]


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Chris Moyse
Senior Editor - Chris has been playing video games since the 1980s and writing about them since the 1880s. Graduated from Galaxy High with honors. Twitter: @ChrisxMoyse