Report: Maxis, Pandemic, and Most of C&C Team Hit with Layoffs

Earlier this week, along with an earnings report that revealed a net loss close to $400 million, Electronic Arts announced yet another "cost reduction plan," which will see games canceled and unfortunately involves cutting 1,500 employees. Previous unconfirmed reports indicated layoffs hits EA's Redwood Shores, Tiburon, Mythic, and Black Box studios. 

Now a new report from Kotaku states that Pandemic (Mercenaries, Saboteur), Maxis (Spore, Sims) and "nearly the entire Command & Conquer team" is being affected by the cuts at EA. The team working on Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight was apparently warned today that most will be let go after the game ships sometime next year.  

This is the second time within a year that EA is implementing heavy cutting across the company, and management has been taking some heat. Analyst Michael Pachter commented on the new cost cutting measures: "Today’s action raises the question as to why the company’s management didn’t recognize the low revenue and profit potential of these games when it conducted its last deep soul searching in early 2009."