EA Looking to Shut Down Long-Running Studio
Video game insider eXtas1s recently claimed the developer of games like Grid, Colin McRae Rally, Dirt, and most recently F1 25, will shut its doors. Those impacted will be put on the next F1 game or a new Need for Speed game currently in development. Additionally, the insider learned that there are about 400 'more' layoffs at EA.
'The cancellation of Black Panther will NOT be the only thing,' said eXtas1s. 'I have been able to learn that there are about 400 more layoffs coming up at EA, a total CLOSURE of the main headquarters of Codemasters and that these developers will be integrated into EA Sp (F1) and a new Need For Speed that is already in development.'
EA recently closed Cliffhanger Games and cancelled its Black Panther game. According to an email from EA Entertainment president Laura Miele, this decision was to 'sharpen our focus and put our creative energy behind the most significant growth opportunities.'
'These decisions are hard,' Miele wrote. 'They affect people we've worked with, learned from, and shared real moments with. We're doing everything we can to support them — including finding opportunities within EA, where we've had success helping people land in new roles.'
The status of Codemasters has been up in the air since EA paused development on future World Rally Championship titles. Around that announcement, the official Codemasters X account was pulled.
While all signs are pointing to Codemasters getting shut down, EA has yet to officially confirm the closure.
(Source: eXtas1s via Nintendo Life)
The post EA Looking to Shut Down Long-Running Studio – Report appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
UPI
9 hours ago
- UPI
Ella Balinska shares how she nailed first takes for 'The Occupant'
1 of 5 | Ella Balinska, seen at the "F1" premiere in June in New York City, stars in "The Occupant." File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo LOS ANGELES, Aug. 8 (UPI) -- Snowy elements during the filming of The Occupant, in theaters and video-on-demand Friday, required star Ella Balinska to get many scenes right in just one take. The actress plays Abby, an engineering geologist who survives a helicopter crash. In a recent Zoom interview with UPI, Balinska described filming on location in the Caucasus Mountains in the country of Georgia. The snow had to look like no one had been there before Abby, meaning the filmmakers could not remove footprints after the first take. "When we're doing these massive shots, we had to get it right the first time," Balinska, 28, said. "Otherwise, we were limited to only doing closeups and it loses that vast scale." Leaving the snow untouched also made it challenging for director Hugo Kejzer to set marks for the actress to hit during each take. "If it was really specific, we'd get a rock and try and throw it as best as we could to the little area so it only made a tiny mark in the snow that you wouldn't see on a wide shot," she said. "It was like a ballet on the snow and on the side of the mountain." Balinska said she, Kejzer, cinematographer Robbie van Brussell, drone operator Bram van Woudenberg and the crew on the mountain shared a shorthand to achieve those shots. She appreciated the technical challenge, too, as Balinska calls herself a technical actor. "Honestly, it just gets to a point where you kind of want to work a little bit smarter," she said. "If you don't need to repeat a shot, I would prefer not to, especially when it involves falling into the ice." Balinska first read the Occupant script in 2019 and intended to follow up on her films Charlie's Angels and Run Sweetheart Run with the project. Delays, including the COVID-19 pandemic, postponed filming until 2022. Now, the film comes after her role in the Netflix Resident Evil series and film Skincare. Ballinska said her workload served the role of Abby. "By the time we got to shooting the project, I was like, I'm exhausted," she said. "Funnily enough, [it] psychologically put me in the right place for this character because the character's exhausted too. And I think it made it 10 times more real and truthful than it ever could have been if we shot it in 2019." During her journey, Abby reaches John, another survivor, via radio and attempts to find him. Rob Delaney was cast as the voice of John after filming wrapped, meaning assistant director Toby Sherbourne read John's lines on set for timing. Since Sherbourne was not an actor, Balinska imagined the performance the eventual actor on the other line would give. "A lot of the time, I'd learn the entire scene myself," she said. "I'd imagine different deliveries of different lines that he had in relation to what Hugo wanted for the scene. It was just a lot of spinning plates in one go which is definitely tricky but we managed to get it done." Other challenges included limited filming hours when the sun was in the right position above the mountains, staying hydrated and sun protection. "Everyone forgets the snow is a massive reflector," Balinska said. "I had my feet wrapped in plastic bags and my feet taped so I wouldn't get my feet wet. Then we realized my feet were getting sweaty and damp so we'd have to change the plastic bag." Balinska said she is drawn to physical roles like The Occupant, the action-packed Charlie's Angels, the horror pursuit of Run Sweetheart Run and zombies of Resident Evil. "I think [it's] a really interesting challenge to be able to balance the emotional demands as well as physical demands," she said. She also appreciated how The Occupant was a human survival tale, as opposed to playing a trained agent in Charlie's or backed by a team in Resident Evil. Abby was working in Georgia to pay for experimental cancer treatment for her sister and was flying home after her sister took a turn for the worse. "It's not one of those projects where the main character is trying to save the world and they're trying to get through a situation with all these amazing weapons," she said. "No, it's literally just one person's very humble and quite quiet and painful drive to just get home." The remote filming location meant there were no Hollywood comforts for the cast and crew in real life. The entire group stayed in a cabin in the Caucasus, and everyone chipped in behind the scenes. "We found ourselves carrying film equipment up the side of the mountain just to be able to get the shot," she said. "We were all staying in a cabin getting the shot done. It was really remarkable."
Axios
21 hours ago
- Axios
EA's "Madden 26" plagued with massive launch day errors
EA's first day of "Madden 26" was anything but a touchdown. The big picture: The annual football video game's launch day was slammed by a number of errors that left gamers twiddling their thumbs instead of flicking the sticks. Are EA servers down for "Madden 26" launch? Driving the news:"Madden NFL 26" became available Thursday at noon ET for those who preordered the game and paid for early access. However, many users reported being unable to enter the game. Others said that their video game consoles didn't show that the game had been purchased. "I went to the trouble of uninstalling the Preorder version of Madden 26, and now I've installed the EA Play Trial and I can't even get in due to the servers," wrote one Twitch streamer on X. "Can't even get in the main menu. What a joke," wrote another. Reality check: EA's sever status page listed the "Madden" sever as "online" by Thursday afternoon. Football fans still struggled to enter the game. EA addresses "Madden 26" issues What they're saying: EA acknowledged Thursday that some Xbox users who purchased the "MVP Bundle" — a combo of "Madden" and " College Football 26" — faced issues logging into the game. "We're working closely with Microsoft and plan to resolve this as soon as possible," Madden's developers said in an X post. Xbox users were advised by Madden's developers to do a hard reset of their console before attempting to play. And on Thursday afternoon, Madden's developers said they were "going to perform server maintenance to address a specific issue" for all users, which would turn off the game for most players. "During this time, all online modes will be temporarily offline until maintenance is completed," the account said. Representatives for EA did not respond to Axios' request for comment on Thursday. "Madden 26" works for some gamers Despite the hiccups, plenty of gamers found their way into "Madden" on launch day. Players posted clips from different modes, showing running backs weaving through defenses and quarterbacks making Hail Mary throws. They also listened to game's soundtrack features songs from Kendrick Lamar, Travis Scott, Drake and Chappell Roan.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Brad Pitt Just Broke His Own Record With Incredible 'F1' Box Office
The Top Gun of 2025 is easily Joseph Kosinski's F1: The Movie. The film, all about the comeback of a Formula One racecar driver named Sonny Hayes, played by Brad Pitt, also stars Damson Idris as Joshua Pearce, a rookie driver who clashes with Sonny. Rounding out the cast are Kerry Condon and Javier Bardem, but millions of people around the world already know all of this. If you're not one of them, then you've missed one of the biggest movie success stories of the summer. In short, F1 is Brad Pitt's biggest, most successful movie to date, full stop. With the massive success of F1, he's broken his previous records of big box office hits, and by a very large margin. Here's how the numbers break down. F1: The Movie Box office, explained As of this writing, F1 is the eighth most successful movie of 2025, with a whopping $546 million at the global box office, according to the latest figures from Box Office Mojo. This puts the movie ahead of all three of the Marvel movies released this year, Captain America: Barve New World, Thunderbolts*, and The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Produced by Apple, it's also one of the most successful movies coming from that company. F1 is also neck-and-neck with Superman; that superhero reboot has $551 million at the global box office, just slightly ahead of F1 racecars. And, for Pitt, this isn't just a comeback; it's a new Pitt's biggest movies to date Prior to the success of F1, Pitt's most successful movie might not be what you'd expect. According to IGN and other outlets, prior to F1, the Pitt-led movie that made the most money was the 2013 film World War Z, which took in $540 million at the box office. So, now that F1 is ahead of that and still making money, it seems that Pitt has topped himself. At least for now. What are Pitt's most successful movies other than World War Z and F1? Here's the rest of his top five. F1: The Movie (2025) $546 World War Z (2013) $540 million Troy (2004): $497 million Mr. and Mrs. Smith (2005): $487 million Ocean's Eleven (2001): $450 million Before F1 hit, this top 10 list would have also included 2019's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which took in $377 million worldwide. A sequel to that Quentin Tarantino film, titled The Adventures of Cliff Booth, is currently filming, and stars Pitt in the title role. Directed by David Fincher, The Adventures of Cliff Booth does not yet have a release date. That said, as reported by Variety, it will likely be released directly on Pitt Just Broke His Own Record With Incredible 'F1' Box Office first appeared on Men's Journal on Aug 5, 2025 Solve the daily Crossword
