EA guts staff from Black Box, developers of Skate and Need for Speed

Gamasutra report that over 200 of the 350 staff that make up the Vancouver based studio EA Black Box have been let go, with the remaining staff given the opportunity to relocate to other studios within EA should they wish. Black Box’s most recent game is Skate 2, which is in fact hitting retail today (Jan 23rd). This is the first big lay-off to happen at the company after EA revealed they’d be forced to cut 10% of staff worldwide in a statement released last month.

With the Black Box name more or less dead, Gamasutra say that the remaining staff will move to a nearby studio, one also helmed by EA – Burnaby studios. It is likely development of new games in the Skate and NFS series, as well as other unannounced games, will continue at this studio, albeit with different staff now involved.