EAology

Mmmyeah, if you could not come in ever again? That'd be super.

Rumors and signs are running rampant that the yearly tradition of mass layoffs at EA are about to hit again.

  • Earnings call scheduled for 11/2 — traditionally this is when bloodlettings are announced to make shareholders happy.
  • The EALouse blog from a Mythic employee who was already notified his/her head was on the axe gave the figure of 25%… very few actually believe this, as it would be a level of bloodletting that would literally start to prevent EA from being able to make games. Still, it’s not totally outside the realm of possibility (shattering as it would be to EA and the industry as a whole) given EA’s 1,200+ layoffs last year. 25% of EA at current levels would be around 2,000 people… again, very unlikely, but in the current environment anything’s possible, no matter how self-destructive.
  • Any cuts most likely won’t be across the board, but centered on studios that EA sees as unprofitable. Any layoffs at Bioware Austin, for example, would be a truly dire portent given the level of investment and expectation EA has place in Old Republic‘s future. Most likely we’ll see some studios gutted and possibly shut down entirely, while others emerge relatively unscathed. Office politics would, of course, have nothing to do with this whatsoever.

The most conclusive sign of incoming layoffs, of course, are that they are already starting to happen. EA is such a large company (well, at least this week) that the ship takes a while to begin to turn. And, of course, the ritual of the betrayed has already begun. Cue Jeff Brown, EA mouthpiece:

As you know, seasonal roll-offs that follow game launches are common and vital to maintaining a healthy business. Because so many of our games ship in the holiday quarter, the team size adjustments tend to follow in the same timeframe. However, EA is growing and several of our studios are looking to hire talented people.

‘So, you know, we need to hire good people, which is why we fired the bad people. Come work for us! We have cookies.’

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  • http://uk.europe1400.com Siegerich

    Common business, isn’t it. And it’s not only EA. Hire people, buy studios, fire people, close studios.

    It’s like transporting sand from place A to place B for company C, and then transporting the very same sand back to place A for company E. That’s economy, right?

    All I care about is every good developer getting a good job with a not too bad pointy hair .. eh, manager.

  • http://Website Adam B

    “Seasonal” layoffs my ass. I feel bad for the artists and engineers in the trenches, because your reward for shipping your game is losing your job more often than not :(

  • http://Website Scatch Maroo

    You can’t complain if you’ll buy any of their games, as you’re only contributing to the actions.

  • http://Website Informis

    Not a business guy by any stretch of the imagination, but it seems like studios could save themselves a lot of bad press by contracting developers rather than buying them outright and then firing everyone.

  • http://Website Aufero

    Firing anyone who ships a finished product is bound to lead to greater productivity.

  • http://Website sinij

    EA deserves “writer’s union” equivalent.

  • http://Website VPellen

    So what does a guy do?

    Do you buy the games to support the companies?

    Or do you boycott the games to protest the way the companies treat their staff?

  • http://Website Song7


    Siegerich:

    Common business, isn’t it. And it’s not only EA. Hire people, buy studios, fire people, close studios.
    It’s like transporting sand from place A to place B for company C, and then transporting the very same sand back to place A for company E. That’s economy, right?
    All I care about is every good developer getting a good job with a not too bad pointy hair .. eh, manager.

    Everything he just said.

  • http://Website JodiMae

    Since when are we shocked that EA (or really the Games Industry in general) doesn’t value developer Quality of Life?

    I mean, seriously… When?

    I’ve been in EA, fired from EA, hired by EA again and fired again. Its not a surprise when you “get the call”. It comes when you are still too tired from “gotta ship NOW” crunch time. We even joke about how much time we would have on our hands next month when we got canned. How many grid pools are there in the final weeks of projects on how many people and how many days it would take to announce?

    We shouldn’t be shocked…

    The business can only get away with it because there are never-ending waves of naive graduates of the game development diploma mills out there.

    Idiot Loser #1: I can’t believe we get PAID for this.
    Idiot Loser #2: Yeah, my Mom said I wouldn’t get anywhere by playing games!

    Shut these down and maybe EA/Others would think that maybe, just maybe screwing with the labor force might be a bad idea…

    Nah… they wont ever get that message.

  • http://Website ToeJob

    They’ll get away with it until some type of union forms, then those poor bastards in said union will go through hell standing up for themselves before anything changes.

  • http://Website Matt

    Well, it’s really obvious that game developers don’t need a union at all. I mean, it’s not like hollywood has one, so why would this entertainment industry…

  • http://Website DoubleD

    The beating will continue until Moral improves.

  • http://www.snafzg.com Snafzg

    Nothing like grinding your employees to the bone in order to release a game in time for the holidays and then lay them off so they can enjoy playing it!

    About the only position I’d want to work in at EA would be management. Seems there’s a well-established procedure of passing the buck down to the lowly worker to save your own skin.

  • http:/www.thisisnotacommunity.org D-0ne

    In my industry this is why multi-billion dollar projects have hundreds of millions if not billions in cost over runs and delays… The moment a project is finished they lay off everyone they can.

  • http://Website Hatch


    Scatch Maroo:

    You can’t complain if you’ll buy any of their games, as you’re only contributing to the actions.

    Which is why I’ll torrent. I can’t support cruelty to developers.

  • http://Website Tide

    “a level of bloodletting that would literally start to prevent EA from being able to make games.”

    That’s not an irrational idea. Consider AOL (for whom I worked for several years) — around 2008 they began slowly to move into more adveristing and dramatically cut back on new products until we arrive at today where they are basically just an advertising broker. Some of us internally predicated this years ago.

    Why couldn’t EA do the same? They could move out of developing new games to only surfacing ads or managing pipeline content etc. The days of the big bets for EA may be over with Slashdot today report that Zynga is now worth more than EA.

  • http://Website Iconic

    I’ve never heard the term “Rolloff” before. I hope all of those who lose their jobs will feel better knowing they weren’t laid off. They were ROLLED off.

  • http://shadow.war.blog@gmail.com Shadow War

    Something I’ve never understood about the games industry as an outsider. With these mega-developers with tons of different studios that are laying off from studio “A” but hiring for studio “B” why do they not give preference to already in-house people who’s job at studio “A” is going away? It’s a fairly common practice in other industries that contain sub-sectors within the entire corporation.

    It’s a win for the employee, who (maybe) doesn’t have to relocate, doesn’t have to find a new company, and most importantly, KEEPS WORKING. The company itself saves on pension plans, and allthe other expenses that comes from doing a brand new hire. If John Smith just goes to work for studio “B” there’s a lot less processing of paperwork and finances than if studio “B” gets Joe Schmoe off the streeth.

  • http://geldonsgaming.blogspot.com/ geldonyetich

    I really don’t like the whole idea of the “business” behind games. Taking art (and games surely are massive artistic efforts regardless of what anyone says) and then trying to standardize it for massive profits just demeans the end product and the artists alike.

    Then turning around and firing the artists because they’ve been burnt out trying to meet your deadlines and/or there’s no game immediately being made? I don’t know how professionals in the industry can stand it. The artist’s muse is fickle enough without having to regularly endure rape.

    What can we do about it? Boycott anything made by a company that has such standards, perhaps resulting in only buying from indies? Unfortunately, those same companies are the only ones that have visiblity to the greater majority of gaming consumers. Rarely does an indy sell millions of units… and when they do, the very first thing they do is try to turn themselves into a big gaming company.

    Perhaps the solution is more along the lines of monopoly busting and instituting better business standards.

  • http://Website Arkazon

    Geldon has the right of it. Regrettably, the big business approach has scorched the game-making environment.

  • http://Website JuJutsu

    @Gelodon
    Entertainment is big business. Conducted by big businesses. Some of them are poorly managed but its not unique to gaming as a number of people have posted here on occaision.

    To be honest I don’t feel nearly as bad about a couple thousand game designers losing their jobs as I do about millions of blue collar workers losing theirs.

  • http://Website Ghando

    If you’re outraged by these things, don’t work in the game industry. Not only is it legendarily abusive, but just about every single person working in the industry will eventually be fired out of it or burn out of it. It’s like playing an MMO–sooner or later, you and everyone you know will stop playing and do something else. The game industry took two years of my young life before I came to my senses and GTFO’d. Honestly I’m happy I never “made it;” the beast probably would have taken a lot more years and I probably would have let it.

  • http://Website Freakazoid


    Hatch:

    Scatch Maroo:
    Which is why I’ll torrent. I can’t support cruelty to developers.

    You can’t eat your cake and have it, too. If you REALLY want to support developers? Don’t even pirate the game.

    I suspect you, and the vast majority of gamers, don’t have the strength of will to not play games for weeks, even months at a time. Companies are always going to take advantage of developers because the consumers can’t control themselves.

  • http://Website Triforcer

    I’ve never understood why video game developers endure New York law firm associate-type conditions for a quarter of the pay. At least the associates get SOMETHING for the shattering of their lives and souls.

  • http://Website Count Nerfedalot


    DoubleD:

    The beating will continue until Moral improves.

    I always heard it as “until morale improves”, but Moral actually fits if you consider the ethics of running a business that abuses its employees in such a way. :)

  • http://Website Foamy

    For those of you advocating that game designers should unionize “because that’s what Hollywood does”, I don’t think you’ve been following what’s happened with the Hollywood unions for the last few years.

    It hasn’t been pretty. The short version is: TV viewership dropped by ~10% (with the associated decreased revenues) following the writers’ strike, the Screen Actors’ Guild lost the majority of their contracts to their sister-guild American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, a film production company filed for bankruptcy three weeks ago rather than pay the $700k union late fees and penalties on residuals (so the workers didn’t even get their base residuals), and a whole bunch of production went overseas and hasn’t returned. And that’s not even counting The Hobbit fiasco which resulted in government legislation.

    It’s entirely possible that the situation would’ve been even worse without the unions, but on the other hand it’s rather difficult to argue that their actions have changed the industry for the better. It’s certainly not a trajectory to which games designers should aspire.

  • http://geldonsgaming.blogspot.com/ geldonyetich


    Count Nerfedalot:


    DoubleD:

    The beating will continue until Moral improves.

    I always heard it as “until morale improves”, but Moral actually fits if you consider the ethics of running a business that abuses its employees in such a way.

    “The beatings will continue until morality improves” worked for the fundamentalists for centuries. ;)

  • http://www.mmomisanthrope.wordpress.com Dblade

    Oversupply of programmers and game designers leads to this kind of exploitation. The best thing would be for a lot of devs to either just go independent or leave the game industry till the numbers shrink where they can’t pull this without devastating themselves.

    With knowledge work in general we are seeing this. Only the hard sciences seems to be surviving mostly because the level of math and desire to do so keeps the scientist population low.

    I’m worried that we are seeing a future of too many people for too little jobs, and EA is the future. That said, I’m not buying ANY EA game till they improve their employee quality of life.

  • http://uk.europe1400.com Siegerich


    Triforcer:

    I’ve never understood why video game developers endure New York law firm associate-type conditions for a quarter of the pay. At least the associates get SOMETHING for the shattering of their lives and souls.

    We are game developers because we NEED to design games. We spiritually starve if not doing so. Our only choice is to do it as profession or avocation.

    Thats why


    JodiMae:

    The business can only get away with it because there are never-ending waves of naive graduates of the game development diploma mills out there.

    And that’s why we get lower salaries and working conditions as usually for such life-sucking job requirements. Either live with it or leave the industry. Simple as that.

  • http://unsubject.wordpress.com UnSub

    A huge problem here is the price of title development – if a single title is costing $50m+ to develop, firing all the developers as soon as it ships makes sense as a way to stop that cost increasing.

    However, gamers want their AAA titles, so please keep putting in those 70+ hour weeks until they kick you to the bread line, devs! ;-)

  • http://Website Freakazoid


    Foamy:

    It’s entirely possible that the situation would’ve been even worse without the unions, but on the other hand it’s rather difficult to argue that their actions have changed the industry for the better.

    Yeah, it’s difficult to argue… if you ignore the entirety of hollywood history until the past ~6 years.

  • http://Website Xaldin

    It may be developer abuse but they’re supposedly intelligent people, not a bunch of animals being subjected to slavery. They can quit any time and work in another computer field. I find it very hard to have any sympathy for people who are sleeping in the bed they choose. Using them and tossing them is the logical outcome of them allowing it.

  • http://thesins.blogsome.com Sinner


    Xaldin:

    It may be developer abuse but they’re supposedly intelligent people, not a bunch of animals being subjected to slavery. They can quit any time and work in another computer field. I find it very hard to have any sympathy for people who are sleeping in the bed they choose. Using them and tossing them is the logical outcome of them allowing it.

    My friend, try getting a “straight” job after a few years in games. The first interview question is always “Why would you want to leave games???”

    The next is “are you sure you understand proper development standards?”

    Its really not that easy.

  • http://Website Ocil

    The other thing to remember is that the vast majority of game consumers don’t have a clue at all what the working conditions are like. They are not game artists/programming professionals who have any insight into what it takes to create a piece of consumer software let alone a 100 million dollar game title.

    In fact if they have any interest in games at all they will likely aspire to get INTO the industry because they believe they will be working on something they love, games. Then they get there and they realized it isn’t much different than working a shitty retail job. Sure you make more money but you have to put in many more hours and you are just as disposable as the guy who works at Target. Your skill doesn’t really give you any job security at all (though it should).

    The real issue is that corporations are not socially required to actually give a shit about their employees beyond how much they cost.

    Unless we can bring populism back to the workplace this trend will only continue. It is only a matter of time until EA feels pushed to find cheaper and less bitchy labor to keep their insane profits moving up. Then everyone will be on the feed line wondering WTF they are going to with their 5, 10, 15 years of game experience.

  • http://Website Foamy


    Freakazoid:

    Yeah, it’s difficult to argue… if you ignore the entirety of hollywood history until the past ~6 years.

    Unfortunately those halcyon days (and it’s debatable whether they ever existed) aren’t comparable to the current state of the games industry – the rise in oversupply of labor to both industries started in the 90s and both are facing a rapidly changing market thanks to online content. If you want to argue that unionizing the games industry now would be a good idea you need to compare to Hollywood now too.

  • http://Website John Smith


    Freakazoid:


    Hatch:

    Scatch Maroo:
    Which is why I’ll torrent. I can’t support cruelty to developers.

    You can’t eat your cake and have it, too. If you REALLY want to support developers? Don’t even pirate the game.
    I suspect you, and the vast majority of gamers, don’t have the strength of will to not play games for weeks, even months at a time. Companies are always going to take advantage of developers because the consumers can’t control themselves.

    So you are saying pirating does support the industry?

  • http://Website Akutan

    It’s possible to meet one’s game fix without paying the Robert Koticks and John Riccitiellos of the world. There are smaller scale game companies that (I hope) wouldn’t abuse their employees to the extent a large publically traded company would.

    How are working conditions at Runic Games, Hi-Rez Studios, and Valve Corporation?

    Surely there are games out there, developed with a minimum of exploitation.

  • http://Website Iconic


    John Smith:


    Freakazoid:


    Hatch:

    Scatch Maroo:
    Which is why I’ll torrent. I can’t support cruelty to developers.

    You can’t eat your cake and have it, too. If you REALLY want to support developers? Don’t even pirate the game.
    I suspect you, and the vast majority of gamers, don’t have the strength of will to not play games for weeks, even months at a time. Companies are always going to take advantage of developers because the consumers can’t control themselves.

    So you are saying pirating does support the industry?

    Pirating supports pirates. Any other reason is a rationalization. Pirating a game that was produced under terrible conditions does nothing to improve conditions. To the extent that such things are tracked, it only encourages such studios to also be bad to their paying customers in an effort to stick it to pirates.

    If it’s a truly a matter of principle then don’t play the game(s) at all. The fact that people are not willing or able to give up their precious games tells me that in the end they are about as committed to “the cause” as the executives they claim to despise.

    Execs treat game industry developers like disposable cogs because they can. The only way that will ever change is if developers and programmers decide that it’s worth fighting about, and they have the actual clout to make it happen.

    In the meantime, if you work in the video game industry, you have to ask yourself if what you do is worth the costs that come with it, and whether you have better options.

  • http://Website Vetarnias

    Never mind the legitimacy, or lack thereof, of pirating a game.

    Pirating might deprive the industry of revenues, but there’s another reason why pirating a game from a sweatshop studio is no sign of protest: You’re allowing the game to enter the public consciousness. From that point, it will be a financial success regardless, because people will have heard about it, and not 100% of people, mercifully, are crooks who will hit the torrents at the first mention of the title.

    Instead, you should just turn away, and say “I won’t bother with your game until you improve working conditions”. Not, “I will boycott you because of what you’re doing, and pirate your game anyway because, you know, it looks fun.” Sounds familiar? That was the kind of bullshit argument that hit the web in the early weeks of the release of Spore. Like those hundreds of one-star reviews on Amazon that could usually have been summarized, in the case of those from people who actually played the game, as: “I enjoy your game, but take your DRM and shove them.” The only people in that situation whom I can respect were those who were unaware of Spore’s DRM policy when they bought the game — the rest, sorry, but EA has sold you their game, and now see if they care about your little qualms. And if you bypass all this and pirate the game instead — well, you’ve just proved EA right with its draconian DRM policy.

    Instead, don’t buy the game, and don’t pirate it. Let the game sink without a trace, and let it be known exactly why (so the studio can’t put the blame on piracy, etc.). Don’t praise it, don’t encourage others to play it, and for God’s sake don’t meme it. Say, “no, I won’t go with this until…”. But gamers are selfish, myopic, and driven by pleasure; any shred of social conscience, I’m afraid, will have to be beaten into them.

  • http://Website Brask Mumei


    Siegerich:

    We are game developers because we NEED to design games. We spiritually starve if not doing so. Our only choice is to do it as profession or avocation.
    Thats why

    That is why you need to design games, yes. It does not explain why you need to be in the games industry.

    First, note for one second that game design is not something invented with the computer. So there are plenty of other avenues in life to direct this drive. Heck, have kids and you’ll be kept busy designing games for ten years…

    Second, recall that just because you have an overriding drive to do something, there is no reason you need to make it your paying gig.

    My advice for wannabee game designers would be the same as the common advice for wannabee authors. Get a paying job, and then do it on the side.

  • Scatch Maroo

    Sorry for an unrelated disclaimer, but I did not state I would torrent/pirate games: someone quoted my post and then stated they would torrent games. Thereafter, someone misquoted that individual and made it appear as it was my statement.

  • http://geldonsgaming.blogspot.com/ geldonyetich

    “Your honor, I’d like to plead not guilty to pirating those games because I figure EA has no legal right to sell games on account of how they have a lousy firing policy.”

    Yeah, right.

    People don’t pirate games because of the DRM or hiring policies or any other crap. They pirate games because it’s so unlikely they’d be held responsible that it makes national news whenever someone is, but they know it’s wrong anyway, and are seeking whatever excuse they can.

    Here’s how boychots work: you don’t give the company your money, perhaps resolving to buy like products from their competitors instead. That’s it. You don’t procure go yourself the product for free.

    Take, for example, the Boston Tea Party. They didn’t go make off with the tea, they destroyed it out of protest. That’s what elevated them from being a lawless mob.

    Not that I’m recommending fired EA employees infiltrate the EA office and destroy the masters of the games they made… granted, that would be awesome, right up to the point where the affected parties are tossed in the clink and 100% of production is outsourced overseas.

  • http://Website mcl

    In my football days we had a chant:

    “Blood makes the grass grow.”

    In business replace blood with layoffs and grass with stock price.

    Management stays, gets better stock option. There is no ‘charity’ in capitalism.

    –m.

  • http://uk.europe1400.com Siegerich


    Brask Mumei:


    Siegerich:

    We are game developers because we NEED to design games. We spiritually starve if not doing so. Our only choice is to do it as profession or avocation.
    Thats why

    That is why you need to design games, yes. It does not explain why you need to be in the games industry.
    First, note for one second that game design is not something invented with the computer. So there are plenty of other avenues in life to direct this drive. Heck, have kids and you’ll be kept busy designing games for ten years…
    Second, recall that just because you have an overriding drive to do something, there is no reason you need to make it your paying gig.
    My advice for wannabee game designers would be the same as the common advice for wannabee authors. Get a paying job, and then do it on the side.

    I agree to you, but the question was why “video game developers endure …”. It’s tempting to do it as profession instead of only in free time (and most likely is both). And that explains the mass competion for the jobs. And that again the relative “bad” salaries and conditions.

    Although I have to say: from my experience even as a professional game developer, you can say “no, thanks” if you are asked which Pizza you want at 11 pm in the 4th week of crunch while the results you can achieve as the zombie head you feel like doesn’t make a difference anyway. So, we always have a choice, even if it either to take the pain, or to stand up (and not unlikely leave).

    I just wanted to give a little insight to why “video game developers endure…”.

  • http://Website locrian


    Ocil:

    The real issue is that corporations are not socially required to actually give a shit about their employees beyond how much they cost.Unless we can bring populism back to the workplace this trend will only continue.

    There’s always some of this nonsense in these threads. I work in insurance. I’m treated extremely well and our company takes care of its employees. The working conditions are very good. I’m well paid, too.

    This is typical of our industry, though it is true that those with education are more secure than those without.

    Employment in game development doesn’t need populism. It needs to end the information asymmetry between what people think working in the industry is like, and what it really is.

  • http://Website Hatch

    Oh no. I am not hearing this crap about how bad off devs have it. You can go into database or network administration for a fortune 500 and make a truckload of money, or you can make videogames and be one of millions of other people chasing down 300 available jobs.

    If you choose work in a saturated field, you’re choosing lower pay and poor treatment. Every kid coming out of high school is willing to develop games for next to no money, eventually their willful slave wages overcome your experience and you end up out of a job or taking a huge pay cut.

  • http://Website Mouse

    By that logic, professional orchestras should have huge layoffs after every concert, followed by auditions in which they hire cheap kids fresh out of college, all of whom are thrilled just to have a job. Yet, somehow, this does not happen. Generally, seats open up in orchestras only when the most experienced members retire (or die). Meanwhile, newly graduated musicians take jobs as teachers and/or bartenders while they wait for those coveted positions. Students are aware of this going in, and as a result, the pool of available musicians is limited to those who have a driving passion for music, such that they can’t imagine doing anything else with their lives.

    This is simplified, obviously; but I’m tempted to think the difference is at least partly due to recognition that a musician is not a drone you can swap into and out of a group at will. The difference between a good musician and a great one is experience. Why experience in programming should be treated as worthless, I have no idea.

  • http://Website P.T. Barnum

    You can go into database or network administration for a fortune 500 and make a truckload of money

    Is that so?

    Tell me, do you even know what SAP is?

  • http://Website P.T. Barnum

    Oh, and the reason why game developers are treated badly is because the anti-social nerds can be talked/lied into putting up with it. This applies, somewhat less extremely, to programmers and engineers generally.

    People with more experience in bull detection, and more experience lying and being lied to…

    well, the excuses don’t pass the giggles test.

  • http://Website P.T. Barnum

    Oh, and finally, there is an active hatred by a certain type of person for high paid LABOR. I have personally seen companies go with SAP… and lose hundreds of thousands, at least, and probably a million plus, because they didn’t want to hire an independent programmer.

    Or should I say the second boss after the first was fired didn’t want to hire an independent programmer.

    Another department got tired of waiting for SAP to work, and hired me to write a “stop gap”. They used it for a year, before switching to SAP. Why didn’t they switch to SAP before?

    Because it didn’t run the way they wanted. Fortunately, they solved this problem by adjusting their business to suit the needs of SAP.

    Ha. Ha. Or something.

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