Respawn Entertainment is Laying Off Parts of Apex and Star Wars Teams as it Refocuses

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Respawn Entertainment, the developer behind Apex Legends, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, and Titanfall, has announced a corporate “sharpening of focus” in a social media announcement made today (April 29).

In the post, Respawn detailed that “two early-stage incubation” projects were being cancelled, and a series of “targeted team adjustments” to the Apex Legends and Star Wars Jedi teams. This likely means a large number of layoffs across the organization.

Respawn Cancels Two Games, Faces Layoffs as it Changes Focus

Respawn Entertainment didn’t disclose the two projects it had cancelled, but it’s highly likely they include a previously mentioned new IP creation from a team led by Steve Fukuda, the director of the Titanfall series.

The other game is, unfortunately, likely Titanfall 3, a title that was revealed to have a working demo just yesterday. However, this is unconfirmed.

The deliberately evasive announcement avoided mentioning layoffs and cancellations, instead sticking to jargon terms like “sharpening our focus” and “team adjustments.” However, anyone with even a mild familiarity with corporate speak can sniff out that people have likely lost their jobs.

Respawn has reallocated teams working on Apex Legends and Star Wars Jedi. Image Credit: Respawn Entertainment

Last year, Respawn, and parent company Electronic Arts (EA), suffered disappointing results from its largest titles, EA Sports FC, Sims 4, and Apex Legends. Similarly, smaller titles, like EA’s Dragon Age: Origins, hit a mixed critical reception. EA as a whole has struggled to halt its fall from a once dominant position in the industry.

Respawn Entertainment have consistently created highly acclaimed titles for EA. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (2019) and its 2023 sequel, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor are widely regarded as some of the best Star Wars games of recent times. Apex Legends is one of the top titles in the Battle Royale genre.

However, many fans point to the lack of a sequel to Respawn’s breakout hits, Titanfall and Titanfall 2, the games that inspired Apex Legends. Titanfall 2, is widely considered to have one of the best single-player shooters campaigns ever made (although it also has a solid multiplayer mode).

Today’s evasive announcement likely shields the public from the unfortunate truth that there will be no Titanfall 3, and that many talented people at Respawn have lost their jobs in the wake of these layoffs.

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