Electronic Arts Cuts Jobs:

Electronic Arts Inc., the Redwood City, Calif., video game developer, laid off 200 employees, or about 6% of its work force, this week and canceled development of a much-anticipated sequel to Ultima Online, a popular subscription-based game. Most of the cuts occurred at Pogo.com, a San Francisco-based games Web site that EA purchased earlier this month for $42 million in a bid to expand its online games business, EA.com. The remainder of the cutbacks were divided between development studios in Charlottesville, Va.; Austin, Texas; and Redwood City, where EA is based. Company spokesman Jeff Brown said the cuts were not an indication that the company was throttling back expenses for its ambitious online venture. Instead, he said EA will continue to recruit talent for EA.com.