EA’s EA Montreal studio has been hit with a ‘small number’ of layoffs, Gamasutra is reporting, as a result of what is being described as minor internal restructuring. “We made a staffing change in our Montreal studio to align with our current development and service plans,” EA said in a statement.

“A small number of employees were impacted, and we are working closely with each of them to ensure the best transition possible.” That said, EA’s Bioware team at Montreal appears to have been unaffected by any of this. In fact, rather surprisingly, it appears that the teams hit hardest by this were the teams focusing on mobile gaming.

“The teams at EA Montreal, including BioWare, are working on exciting new projects, and EA is committed to developing great games in our Montreal studio,” EA said. Of course, we don’t know exactly what these ‘exciting new projects’ are– it’s been quite a while since EA Montreal showed us anything.

Hopefully the people who lost their jobs are able to get back up on their feet soon.

As the remaining T.W.O. operatives, Alpha and Bravo are tasked with fighting the Cartel in Mexico along with an odd nemesis-like character (speculated to be Elliot Salem) who seems to have it in for them at every turn. The number of bullets, wanton violence and witty retorts necessary to complete these goals of course makes most modern games blush.

Despite Dead Space 3 being criticized for more action and less horror, Visceral Games is spot-on with Army of Two: The Devil’s Cartel thus far. Hopefully it will revamp the troubling cover mechanics from The 40th Day. Check it out when it releases on March 26th in North America and March 29th in Europe for PS3 and Xbox 360.

EA Montreal has let go some staff as a part of its restructuring process. They will stay in the company but will be transferred to other divisions. The main priority for them is to focus on digital initiatives, including mobile and social project

“These are routine changes which address the cyclical nature of the game industry. A very small number of employees will be impacted – many will be assigned to new projects at EA, others will leave the company,” a spokesperson told GamesIndustry.

“Overall, we expect that EA’s headcount will be up at the end of this year.”

It does not seem too harmful for the studio and is for constructive purposes. Earlier there were reports that EA was laying off 500-1000 people, but that turned out to be false as EA actually expects the staff count to go up.

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