EA has confirmed another wave of layoffs, this time sweeping through its Fan Care organization and hitting teams across recruitment, IT, customer support, and the "trust and safety" division. The exact headcount is still unconfirmed, but the cuts span remote roles in the USA and positions at EA's Hyderabad, India office.
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The departments taking the hit
Here's the lowdown on what's actually being cut. The layoffs aren't touching game development teams directly this time around. Instead, the ax has fallen on the internal infrastructure side of the business: the people who handle hiring, player-facing support, and the moderation and safety systems that keep EA's online communities functioning.
Diana Cornejo, a former lead recruiter who spent nearly eight years at EA, publicly confirmed her departure on LinkedIn, writing that her role ended "as part of the most recent round of layoffs." Her post is one of the clearest public confirmations of what's happening behind closed doors.
An internal email reportedly sent to EA's Fan Care team on June 18 framed the cuts in familiar corporate language, referencing the need to "adapt how we work to better meet fans' changing needs." The email also described "creating new roles, and moving certain work to different teams, locations, or service partners" -- which, read plainly, suggests some functions are being outsourced or consolidated rather than simply eliminated.
EA declined to comment on the reports.
Third time in 2026
This is the third significant round of EA layoffs this year, and it's worth putting that in context.
In February, Full Circle, the studio behind the long-in-development Skate reboot, saw an unspecified number of staff let go. Then in March, the Battlefield 6 development team faced cuts despite the game being one of the best-selling titles of 2025. Now, in June, the cuts have shifted to support and infrastructure roles.
Three rounds of layoffs in six months is not a company in steady-state operation. The pattern points to a business under serious financial pressure, restructuring quickly and broadly.
The acquisition hanging over everything
None of this happens in a vacuum. EA is in the process of being acquired by a consortium led by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, backed by a $20 billion loan. That debt load is enormous, and the stated plan for managing it has involved generative AI cost-cutting, a strategy that has drawn serious skepticism given that the largest AI companies are themselves losing billions annually.
Union leaders have publicly criticized the buyout as a move designed to "pad investor pockets," while US senators have raised concerns about Saudi Arabia's human rights record and the implications of foreign state ownership over a major American entertainment company. The acquisition has attracted more political heat than almost any gaming deal in recent memory.
What most players miss is that the people being cut from trust and safety teams are the ones responsible for keeping online spaces functional and moderated. Fewer people in those roles has a direct downstream effect on the player experience, regardless of what any internal email says about "meeting fans' changing needs."
What this means for EA's games
For players invested in EA's current lineup, the picture is mixed. EA FC 26 continues to receive active support, with the EA FC 26 World's Game update bringing 53 national teams and a 48-team tournament to the game earlier this month. Career Mode has also seen significant changes, and if you want the full breakdown, the EA Sports FC 26 new features and gameplay changes guide covers everything in detail.
The key here is that active game development and live service updates appear to be continuing as normal. The cuts are structural, not creative, at least for now.
The broader picture for the industry
EA is not alone. The games industry has shed tens of thousands of jobs over the past two years, and the pattern of large publishers restructuring support and back-office functions while maintaining game output is becoming familiar. The difference with EA is the scale and frequency: three rounds in a single year, with a multi-billion dollar acquisition adding pressure that isn't going away anytime soon.
For anyone tracking how this affects the games themselves, our guides hub will keep you up to date on any changes to EA's live titles as they roll out.
