Layoffs hit EA, company 'not disclosing specific teams impacted'

Following up with EA about the closure of EA Mobile Montreal, we've received the following statement from the company.

"EA is sharpening its focus to provide games for new platforms and mobile. In some cases, this involves reducing team sizes as we evolve into a more efficient organization," the company told Joystiq. "These are difficult decisions to let go of good people who have made important contributions to EA, and whenever possible we retrain or relocate employees to new roles. Streamlining our operations will help ensure EA is bringing the best next-generation games to players around the world."

We continue to work on finding out the extent of today's impact, but we believe we have a better grip on today's layoffs at EA Mobile Montreal. Our understanding is that 60 to 70 permanent employees were let go, along with over 100 people working under EA's contract system. These are mostly quality assurance testers. We're told by one source, "If you walk through the office all you see is a bunch of already cleared out desks, and people cleaning out their desks."

These layoffs and closures were expected in the wake of former CEO John Riccitiello's resignation last month. In his departure letter to the company, Riccitiello wrote, "My decision to leave EA is really all about my accountability for the shortcomings in our financial results this year. It currently looks like we will come in at the low end of, or slightly below, the financial guidance we issued to the Street, and we have fallen short of the internal operating plan we set one year ago. And for that, I am 100 percent accountable."

If you're a member of an affected team, please don't hesitate to reach out. We'll continue to work on this story and update as new information comes in.

Update: Brazilian site UOL Jogos reports EA Mobile Brazil will shut down by week's end. A separate source informs us 30-40 people worked at the studio, providing localization and support.

UOL Jogos also has unconfirmed reports that BioWare Social and a studio in London were also closed.

Update #2: More jobs are reportedly being cut at EA's customer service center in Galway, Ireland. The European customer service expansion into Ireland was announced in September 2012, and was expected to create 300 jobs.