EA Japan President Shaun Noguchi has expressed strong criticism of Microsoft’s recent decision to lay off thousands of employees, a move that has reverberated across the gaming industry. In a heartfelt post on X (formerly Twitter), Noguchi voiced his “deep sense of pain” over the job cuts and the potential long-term impacts on both developers and gamers.
Microsoft recently completed a significant round of layoffs affecting approximately 4% of its workforce, which totals around 228,000 employees. This move, expected to impact up to 9,000 workers, sent shockwaves through the tech and gaming sectors. Reports have confirmed that some high-profile projects have been shelved as a direct consequence, including Rare's Everwild, the Forza Motorsport series, and even Romero Games’ unannounced project. Additionally, Halo Studios appears to have been affected by the cuts, with some speculation that the layoffs have disrupted production.
Noguchi, speaking from his position within the industry, offered a pointed critique of what he perceives as a broader trend in the corporate world. He wrote, “In recent years, foreign-affiliated companies have become more inclined to seek short-term results from large-scale investments, and there are many cases where they change direction to meet shareholders’ expectations before enough time has passed. We believe this incident is a result of such a structure.”
The Electronic Arts executive further elaborated on the emotional and professional toll these layoffs have had on the gaming community. He emphasized the profound sense of loss both for the developers who invested years of work into these projects, and for the gamers who will never get to experience them. “What supports the game industry are the creators and staff who have been working sincerely on development,” Noguchi stated. “As someone in the same industry, I feel a deep sense of pain from this decision. The regret that something built over a long period of time will not be released to the world, and the reality that gamers who were looking forward to it will never even have the chance to experience it.”
The layoffs and project cancellations have sparked widespread discussion within the gaming community about the pressures of corporate decisions on creative industries.
More:EA to Close Origin
Read
Source Editing
Visual Editing
Related news
