Skate Fans Stunned! Layoffs Rock Developer - Is the Game Doomed?!

Another one bites the dust, it seems. Electronic Arts (EA), fresh off the heels of racking up over 15 million players for its *Skate* reboot in a shockingly short timeframe, has announced some rather unsettling news. It appears that Full Circle, the studio behind the free-to-play skateboarding title, is undergoing a restructuring, resulting in layoffs. Now, anyone who’s followed the gaming industry for a while knows what "restructuring" often *really* means.

Skate Fans Stunned! Layoffs Rock Developer - Is th...

Just five months after the early access launch, which promised an "ever-growing, ever-evolving skateboarding sandbox," EA's move feels a bit… tone-deaf, to put it mildly. The game clearly had some initial momentum, but EA claims these changes are necessary to better support the free-to-play model. I guess the millions of players weren’t enough?

EA released a statement that, while sounding corporate and polished, feels strangely hollow. "These shifts mean making changes to our team structure, and some roles will be impacted. The teammates affected are talented colleagues and friends who helped build the foundation of *Skate*. Their creativity and dedication are deeply ingrained in what players experience today. This decision is not a reflection of their impact and we’re committed to supporting them through this transition," the company said in a blog post. You know, the usual PR spiel. It's never a reflection of their impact, right? Always about "restructuring".

They were quick to reassure players that the project isn't being scrapped, stating that their "work on *Skate* continues." They want to "move faster, listen more closely, and deliver consistently," and that their commitment to *Skate* and its millions of players "remains strong." Let's hope that commitment translates into actual support for the remaining developers and a genuinely improved game, and not just further monetization schemes. Only time will tell, honestly. I've seen this movie before.

What’s particularly frustrating is the lack of transparency. The exact number of employees affected by the layoffs remains unknown. Game Developer has reached out to EA for further comment, but, predictably, details are scarce. It's always the same dance.

Currently, *Skate* sports a "mixed" rating on Steam, based on over 58,000 user reviews. SteamDB estimates indicate a peak of nearly 135,000 concurrent players during the initial launch. So, there's clearly interest. Hopefully, EA's restructuring doesn't kill the game before it has a chance to truly find its footing. And more importantly, hopefully those affected by the layoffs land on their feet. It's a tough industry out there.