A majority of the staff making up Canadian video game development studio EA Black Box, creators of the Electronic Arts' skateboarding series, Skate, Skate 2, and Skate It, has been laid off.
Gamasutra reports that almost two-thirds of EA Black Box, which has also worked on NBA STREET Homecourt and most of the games in the Need for Speed series (everything from Need for Speed Hot Pursuit 2 to Need for Speed Undercover) has lost their jobs, the total number of employees let go being upwards of 200 people.
This news comes the day before Skate 2's release which hits store shelves Friday. You can already read GamePro's review of Skate 2, where it was awarded 4 out of 5 stars.
Read the full story on the Skate team layoffs on Gamasutra here.