Electronic Arts, makers of a long list of exceedingly popular games such as The Sims and the Battlefield series, announced back in December that they would be jumping on the cost-cutting bandwagon by laying off approximately 1,000 employees from amongst their facilities. Yesterday, EA official Craig Hagen confirmed that an undisclosed number of employees has been released from their Tiburon studio, which is responsible for the successful flagship series Madden NFL Football and Tiger Woods PGA Tour.

While it’s unsurprising that EA is following through with their earlier announcement, it’s certainly unexpected to see them focus on one of their top studios in an effort to thin the herd. The idea that Madden is underperforming financially is a gloomy barometer of the current video game climate. If these guys aren’t safe then who is? Certainly not vested designers such as Zack Hiwiller, victim of the recent round of layoffs, as he points out in his blog.

Tiburon, however, isn’t the only studio facing the axe. Earlier this week it was confirmed that EA fired 21 customer service representatives, half of the quality assurance team, and all of their playtesters from Mythic Entertainment, the studio behind Warhammer Online. It’s also been rumored that EA Blackbox, makers of Need for Speed, are also due for cutbacks.

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