First reported by Kotaku and since corroborated by Insider Gaming sources, EA has laid off over 200 of its QA testers who have worked on Apex Legends at its Baton Rogue office.
The team at Baton Rouge has recently been focused on Apex Legends but has worked on multiple games over the past years, including the likes of Battlefield 2042.
Sources tell Insider Gaming that the entire Baton Rogue division was called to a “mandatory zoom meeting” this morning, where it was announced the entire Baton Rogue QV/QA division will be closing. The email sent to employees simply read “SITE CLOSED – Please join Zoom Meeting at 8am CST”.
According to several sources not even Baton Rogue management was made aware of the announcement.
The cause of why the Apex Legends team was laid off is unclear, but a new email from Magnit Global (an EA client) states that the layoffs were due to the “result of the decision to end manual testing operations at EABR”.
One source, who wishes to remain anonymous because they are not authorised to speak to the press said that the layoffs happened after they [Baton Rogue] successfully trained testers based in the UK and Romania and was likely a means of cutting costs.
Despite the layoffs just happening, Insider Gaming has received numerous reports that EA has been sending out job applications for EA Playtesting roles.
Insider Gaming has reached out to EA for comment and will continue to update the story as we hear more.
If you’ve been affected by the layoffs and would like to speak anonymously and give more information to this story – Please email [email protected]
