Yesterday rumors hit the Internet that nearly the entire Command and Conquer RTS team will be laid off after the release of Command and Conquer 4. Publisher Electronic Arts has yet to make any official statements on the matter and Big Download's own inquires to EA's corporate PR reps have not been returned.

However there does appear to be some evidence that at least some of the C&C4 team has been laid off already with some fan sites naming specific team members. EA's community manager for the game "APOC" posted up a note on the fan site CNCNZ.com asking such sites to hold of on mentioning specific team members, saying, "These are real people with families and lives outside of work and its incredibly disrespectful (even as a fan) to mention names in such negative fashion."

APOC, who is apparently keeping his gig, finished his statement by saying, "Our development team is putting its heart and soul in to C&C 4, and while I cannot speak further to the situation, we are laser focused on getting the Beta rolling and continuing to propel the game further with your participation."