EA has canceled another incubation project at Respawn Entertainment today, and simultaneously laid off a number of individuals across its incubation, Apex Legends, and Star Wars: Jedi teams, IGN has learned.
In a post today from the studio, Respawn announced is has “made the decision to step away from two early-stage incubation projects and make some targeted team adjustments across Apex Legends and Star Wars Jedi.” One of these canceled incubation projects is the same one already reported on back in March.
“These decisions aren’t easy, and we are deeply grateful to every teammate affected — their creativity and contributions have helped build Respawn into what it is today,” the post continued. “We’re offering meaningful support to those impacted, including exploring new opportunities within EA.”
IGN understands that roughly 100 individuals are affected by the changes, including a mix of developers, publishing, and QA workers on Apex Legends, as well as smaller groups of individuals on the Jedi team and on the incubation projects. IGN also understands that at least some, though not all, of the developers from the incubation project reported on in March have already been moved to work on Iron Man at EA Motive, Battlefield, and other projects. When asked, EA declined to comment on the exact number of individuals impacted, saying it is offering impacted individuals 30 days to find a new opportunity inside the organization and is endeavoring to find roles for as many individuals as it can internally.
Internally at Respawn, work will continue on Apex Legends as well as the game’s next iteration, the next entry in the Star Wars: Jedi franchise, and support on the upcoming Bit Reactor Star Wars game, Star Wars: Zero Company. EA declined to say whether or not any other incubation projects are currently in the works.
In addition to these changes, Respawn SVP of operations Daniel Suarez is being elevated to general manager of Respawn, and will report directly to Vince Zampella. Previously, Zampella served as GM of Respawn, the studio he founded, in addition to his role as head of the Battlefield franchise. Zampella will continue as group GM and EVP overseeing both Battlefield and Respawn.
Notably, just last February, EA told investors that Apex Legends was “not headed in the direction that we have wanted” and hadn’t been for some time. CEO Andrew Wilson said that Respawn is currently working on a major update, dubbed “Apex 2.0”.
“Our expectation is that Apex will also be one of those franchises and that sometime on a longer-term time horizon, there will be an even bigger, more meaningful update to that broader game experience, an Apex 2.0, if you will. This will not be the final incarnation of Apex,” Wilson said.
These changes continue a trend at EA of canceled projects, layoffs, and restructuring that’s been going on for several years now. It began in 2023 with the elimination of 50 jobs at BioWare and an unknown number more at Codemasters, and continued when EA laid off 670 workers company-wide, including around two dozen workers at Respawn, and canceled several projects. More recently, EA restructured BioWare, moving developers to other projects and laying off others.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
A previous version of this article erroneously stated that around 100 people are employed at Respawn. This has been amended above and in the headline. The piece has also been updated to add more detail about ongoing projects at Respawn and developer re-allocation.
