Responding to recent speculation, EA published an official statement about layoffs taking place throughout the company.
The note reads:
In recent weeks, EA has aligned all elements of its organizational structure behind priorities in new technologies and mobile. This has led to some difficult decisions to reduce the workforce in some locations. We are extremely grateful for the contributions made by each of our employees – those that are leaving EA will be missed by their colleagues and friends.
These are hard but essential changes as we focus on delivering great games and showing players around the world why to spend their time with us.
EA’s statement doesn’t give any indication as to how many staffers have been laid off. However, Kotaku’s sources say that as much as 10% of the workforce will now need to look for new jobs.
Other speculation has suggested that the EA Partners label will be shut down in the near future.
We’ve come across the North American Game & Wario boxart. Take a look:
Warner Bros. and 5th Cell are gearing up for a new Scribblenauts that incorporates the DC license, according to an IGN report. The game is rumored to be arriving on the Wii U, 3DS, and PC.
Scribblenauts Unmasked was one of the names being thrown around internally. Max is returning once again for this latest outing, who is out to help a variety of DC superheroes.
IGN’s write-up offers two gameplay scenario examples:
More comments from Eiji Aonuma have come in through Miiverse pertaining to Zelda: A Link to the Past’s sequel on 3DS. He talked essentially about the vision behind the game and and how development is going without giving anything mind-blowing away:
“The day we’ll be seeing the successor is still further ahead, but for those of you who wish to contribute or show your support, please comment on the Wii U The Legend of Zelda series community [on Miiverse].”
– Eiji Aonuma, The Legend of Zelda series producer
Aonuma suggested that the game has been in the works since 2011 in a recent Japanese Nintendo Direct, which would indicate a 2 year development cycle for the game. The most recent handheld Zelda title– The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks— came out on DS in 2009.
– Mass Effect series writer Mac Walters
Walters also shared that he believed most players did not have a problem with the ending to Mass Effect 3, but rather a smaller group of very loud individuals took to the internet and caused something of a ruckus about it. I think some folks might disagree with that, but who knows… maybe those folks are part of the minority he’s talking about!?
Today, Silver Star announced that it is working on a sequel to Touch Battle Tank 3D. Touch Battle Tank 3D-2 will be released on the Japanese 3DS eShop in June.
Silver Star has only confirmed new tanks and enemies for the sequel thus far. More details will be revealed leading up to its launch.
The original Touch Battle Tank 3D has been a success for Silver Star. Since launch, consumers have downloaded the game 100,000 times.
ATV Wild Ride 3D can be purchased at a slight discount this week. Through May 2, you can purchase the racer on the eShop for $5.99. ATV Wild Ride normally goes for $7.99.
Renegade Kid co-founder Jools Watsham shared the news on Twitter:
Psst. Haven’t picked up ATV Wild Ride 3D yet? It’s on sale this week for $5.99 (normally $7.99). Scan this with 3DS: twitter.com/JoolsWatsham/s…
— Jools Watsham (@JoolsWatsham) April 25, 2013
The Rayman Legends Challenges App is out now on the North American and European Wii U eShops. You’ll need 841MB of space in order to initiate the download.
A note on the eShop explains that the Rayman Legends Challenges App will be available for a limited time only. Once the full game launches, the app will be removed from the digital store.
