The year may only have just begun, but there is still more bad news coming the industry’s way in terms of layoffs. Electronic Arts has announced that it plans to reduce its global staff by 5%, translating to around 600-700 affected workers.

CEO Andrew Wilson explained that the move was a response to “accelerating industry transformation where player needs and motivations and changed significantly.” It also necessitates “moving away from the development of future licensed IP.”

That last line is quite pertinent, as the company has previously confirmed that there are a few Star Wars and Marvel-related games in development. The immediate casualty is Respawn Entertainment’s Star Wars first-person shooter, which was announced last year but was never given a full reveal. Now, it will never see the light of day, according to a report from IGN.

Related – Read our Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Review

“Respawn’s unique ability to connect with players and create exceptional game experiences is unrivaled in entertainment,” EA Entertainment president Laura Miele wrote in a statement. “As we’ve looked at Respawn’s portfolio over the last few months, what’s clear is the games our players are most excited about are Jedi and Respawn’s rich library of owned brands.”

“Knowing this, we have decided to pivot away from early development on a Star Wars FPS Action game to focus our efforts on new projects based on our owned brands while providing support for existing games.”

The idea is to focus on a few key franchises that are big hitters, such as the EA Sports games, Apex Legends, Star Wars: Jedi, Battlefield, Need for Speed, Dragon Age, Skate, The Sims, and the Iron Man and Black Panther games.

“It’s not lost on me that these changes are more than words on a page; they directly impact the work you do every day and, in some cases, mean we are eliminating roles and saying goodbye to talented colleagues,” continued Miele. “I will never lose sight of the human impact of these decisions, and know that change and disruption aren’t easy. In difficult moments, we must remember how important it is to show up for our players and for each other.”