Dead Space developer Visceral Games hit with layoffs, Montreal branch could be shut down by EA

EA has confirmed layoffs at Dead Space developer Visceral Games, both in Los Angeles and Montreal, as a part of the "console transition" process. At least, that's what EA is calling it in a statement released by president Frank Gibeau, titled "Transition is Our Friend."

The transition, as Gibeau writes, is a "complex and challenging experience," and letting staff go is just a part of said experience. For some of us, it's a little difficult to take in, but evidently that's just the way of things.

Part of his lengthy statement reads:

"Thousands of our existing employees have been retrained and redeployed to work on the new platforms and initiatives. But when it is not possible to redeploy a team, we soften the tough decisions with assistance. This week we let some people go in Los Angeles, Montreal as well as in some smaller locations. These are good people and we have offered outplacement services and severance packages to ease their transition to a new job."

What's even more unfortunate are the rumors that Visceral Montreal, responsible for the upcoming shooter Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel, may be shut down entirely, and that's never something we want to hear. Numerous sources have apparently been spilling the beans on this, but EA's official stance is simply denial.

Today EA internally announced some adjustments to select development teams to align staff and skills against priority growth areas, including new technologies and mobile. Many employees are being retrained for new positions; however a small number will be released. These are great, talented people and we wish them well. EA is growing globally, and we expect our headcount to increase this year.

EA Montreal is a key development studio where our long-term plan is to sharpen our teams' focus on console and mobile games.