Playfish Purchase Marred by Same-Day Layoffs at EA

While today's biggest news in the social network gaming world was EA's acquisition of Playfish, that news comes bittersweet to current EA employees as the video game maker started layoffs at several U.S.-based divisions. Gamasutra reports that development studios in California, Florida, Canada and Virginia had staff reductions. Later on in the day, EA CEO John Riccitiello said that the 1,500 layoffs were "essential to transforming our company" after it had reported a $391 million net loss for the quarter.

News of the layoffs didn't come as a surprise as trusted sources had discussed the rumor staff reductions for some time before today's culling. Gamasutra reports that those employees who were given noticed today were clearly from divisions at EA that create video games for consoles and PCs. There's been no word whether the divisions that are part of Playfish's new division, Los Angeles-based EAi, were affected.