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Layoffs hit Plants vs. Zombies dev PopCap

Job losses "necessary in order to stay on course".

Peggle and Plants vs. Zombies developer PopCap Games has let go an unspecified number of staff.

It's unknown what projects those who lost their jobs had been working on, but the team behind just-released PC and Xbox shooter Plants Vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare were unaffected, EA said in a statement.

The publisher's brief acknowledgement of the layoffs, posted by Gamasutra, stated that "the changes today were necessary to stay on course with PopCap's plans for mobile games with live services and new IP."

PopCap boss John Vechey added:

"The changes we made today at PopCap were painful and we're sorry to lose some of our friends and colleagues. But it was also necessary in order to stay on course with our future plans for mobile games, live services and new IP.

"PopCap is a studio that made its name building great games that the world can fall in love with, and that's what we'll continue to do."

Vechey's fellow co-founder, Jason Kapalka, quit PopCap Games earlier this year.

The studio is known to be crafting more Peggle 2 content for Xbox One, and is thought to be working on bringing Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare to more platforms.