Boom Blox development moved from LA to Guildford

EA has confirmed that a number of developers working on a sequel to Steven Speilberg's Wii puzzle game Boom Blox have been laid off.

It has also said that development of the title has been moved from EA LA to EA's Bright Light Studio in Guildford, where the Harry Potter titles and some Hasbro games were made.

It denied that the staff reductions were in any way a part of the company's overall restructuring, saying that instead it was a standard event in the development process made to leverage team strengths.

"This is a routine event and not in any way related to EA's announced restructuring," an EA spokesperson told Kotaku. "Moving projects to leverage development strengths is common in global studio organisations.

"In this case, a small project has been moved from EA Los Angeles, to the EA Bright Light Studio in Guildford, UK, where the Harry Potter franchise and several of the Hasbro properties are developed. A small number of employees were impacted by the decision.

"All eligible employees will receive severance and outplacement assistance. EA remains fully committed to maintaining its EALA studio which is the headquarters for the mobile division as well as for development of franchises like Medal of Honor, Command & Conquer and others."

The original Boom Blox was received positively by critics and sold 60,000 copies in its first month in the US, according to NPD data. A sequel, Boom Blox Bash Party, also designed by Speilberg, was released last year.