EA has paused development on The Sims' Project Lotus to prioritise Project Evergreen, while Skate's development team is being reduced.
The decisions appear in an EA staff memo published on October 21, alongside the closure of BioWare and the cancellation of its next Mass Effect game. Bloomberg reports that around 400 jobs will be cut across EA, including roughly 50 at BioWare, citing a person familiar with the plans. EA's public memo does not give a total layoff figure.
Project Lotus is paused, with no restart date
EA says it is prioritising Project Evergreen to give the Sims team more time to deliver its vision. To make that possible, the company is “pausing development” on Project Lotus. The memo does not describe Lotus as permanently cancelled or give a timetable for work to resume.
Neither project gets a release date or platform list in the announcement. EA also does not explain how the two codenames relate to other publicly discussed Sims projects, leaving those connections unconfirmed by this memo.
Skate's smaller team will continue development
For Skate, EA says attracting players has been a success, but keeping them engaged over the long term needs more work. It plans a “more focused, smaller team” working to a roadmap, without detailing how many positions will go or which future updates might change.
This comes more than a year after Skate entered early access on September 16, 2025. EA's FAQ describes it as a free-to-play, always-online multiplayer skateboarding sandbox, available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. Continued development is especially consequential for a game that cannot be played offline.
Skate is currently in Season 5. Its official site lists an October 13 mid-season update and the Curse of Morg event running from October 20 to November 3. The restructuring announcement sets out a smaller team, not a shutdown of the game.
Elsewhere, EA says Marvel's Iron Man and the next Star Wars Jedi game are still moving forward, but it intends to pursue fewer large-scale action-adventure projects simultaneously. Respawn and DICE will also collaborate on a future project, which the memo does not name.