DICE employees have reportedly been leaving the company in their droves, with increased competition from other local studios and Star Wars Battlefront 2 being blamed. According to reports from Sweden, the country in which DICE’s headquarters are located, employees have been jumping ship in the wake of Battlefront 2‘s launch. Over 40 staff members have allegedly moved on from the company within the past year.
The mass exodus was reported by the Swedish outlet Di Digital (via VA.), with a translation being posted to the forum ResetEra. The report notes that while LinkedIn suggests that “close to 40 employees have left [DICE] this year,” the real number is larger.
“Some of the people who have left the company have spent over 10 years at DICE […], which has previously been known for having a very low layover rate, in particular for executive/management positions,” the report reads.
“One major reason for people leaving DICE is that new gaming companies which have begun competing for employees.”
Fortnite developer Epic Games and Ubisoft have both opened new offices in Stockholm, while King and Paradox Interactive have also been expanding their efforts in the region. These four companies are reportedly responsible for many DICE employees jumping ship, with 13 employees allegedly moving to Ubisoft’s new studio, while 8 have joined Paradox Interactive.
Star Wars Battlefront 2‘s rocky launch is another reason cited for DICE’s staff troubles. With publisher EA having to change gears post-launch as a result of the game’s microtransaction controversy, DICE had to drastically alter the game to accommodate for a new progression system:
“Another cause for people leaving Dice is the failed launch of Star Wars Battlefront 2 last year. [… Due to massive criticism], developers had to rush a new version of the game out. “It was a debacle. For many [employees], it was very tough to have to quickly redo the game”, one source says.”
DICE hasn’t officially responded to these reports, with GM Oskar Gabrielson and spokesman Sven Grundberg both declining to comment when approached by the outlet. While staff moving to new studios following a game’s launch is unfortunately commonplace in the games industry, these allegations suggest that Battlefront 2 has had some heavy internal ramifications for DICE.
