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I have 3 friends who have worked for EA recently, in different offices in different states. They all agree that things are noticeably better since the EA wife

I have 3 friends who have worked for EA recently, in different offices in different states. They all agree that things are noticeably better since the EA wife lawsuit. It's not perfect, but it's not the constant death marches it used to be. I'd say Zygna has handily surpassed EA in the horrible reputation department.

tsunamifury 15y ago
Irony of ironies, did you know the author of the ea spouse blog also worked for zygna.
- yannickt 15y ago
  From her LinkedIn profile it looks like she is no longer there.
gamble 15y ago
I'm an EA spouse. The culture depends very strongly on the particular studio. It's mainly the old studios like Redwood Shores and Tiburon that have the really bad reputations, though they have gotten a bit better. I'd say it's partly the lawsuit, but also partly Riccitiello's effort to create a healthier culture.
_delirium 15y ago
EA also has some history of allowing semi-independence of studios they buy out if they have enough clout and fight for it. Maxis managed to even stay in a physically different location, partly to maintain cultural independence, and partly because Will Wright didn't want to commute to Redwood City. Admittedly, being Will Wright is sort of an exceptional case when it comes to negotiating clout.
- bmuon 15y ago
  Bioware appears to be an example of that. They have changed a lot their business strategy (lots of DLC now) but their culture seems to remain the same.
- gamble 15y ago
  The essence of EA's management style is that they're content to leave studios on their own, so long as the studio is consistently laying golden eggs. When that studio experiences a significant failure (when, not if) EA corporate has no qualms about slicing open the goose to find out what went wrong. They're better in this regard than they once were, because they have some level of restraint now, but the creative hit-or-bomb nature of the video game business means that eventually they eventually feel compelled to exert control over all of their acquisitions. Wright had a large degree of autonomy for a long time because he made staggeringly massive amounts of money for EA with The Sims, but it didn't protect him from being pushed out when Spore turned out to be an epic flop.

tsunamifury 15y ago

Irony of ironies, did you know the author of the ea spouse blog also worked for zygna.

yannickt 15y ago
From her LinkedIn profile it looks like she is no longer there.

gamble 15y ago

I'm an EA spouse. The culture depends very strongly on the particular studio. It's mainly the old studios like Redwood Shores and Tiburon that have the really bad reputations, though they have gotten a bit better. I'd say it's partly the lawsuit, but also partly Riccitiello's effort to create a healthier culture.

_delirium 15y ago

EA also has some history of allowing semi-independence of studios they buy out if they have enough clout and fight for it. Maxis managed to even stay in a physically different location, partly to maintain cultural independence, and partly because Will Wright didn't want to commute to Redwood City. Admittedly, being Will Wright is sort of an exceptional case when it comes to negotiating clout.

bmuon 15y ago
Bioware appears to be an example of that. They have changed a lot their business strategy (lots of DLC now) but their culture seems to remain the same.
gamble 15y ago
The essence of EA's management style is that they're content to leave studios on their own, so long as the studio is consistently laying golden eggs. When that studio experiences a significant failure (when, not if) EA corporate has no qualms about slicing open the goose to find out what went wrong. They're better in this regard than they once were, because they have some level of restraint now, but the creative hit-or-bomb nature of the video game business means that eventually they eventually feel compelled to exert control over all of their acquisitions. Wright had a large degree of autonomy for a long time because he made staggeringly massive amounts of money for EA with The Sims, but it didn't protect him from being pushed out when Spore turned out to be an epic flop.