Electronic Arts Reviews in Canada

Pros

very knowledgable collegues, incredible facilities, very fair in regards to personal time and overtime compensation, great benefits and corporate swag.

Cons

more than average overtime required (it is well paid though), IT service is very slow unless you know the right people to go to.

Advice to Senior Management

Recognize efforts and good work in order to promote employees to further their careers within the company which will create more team spirit.

Pros

Compensation is good, benefits are great. You get some free games, if you are interested.
Company has huge "Not Invented Here" syndrome. If you that kind of person who wants to have CV filled with lines like "Optimized custom implementation of std::vector" and "Created custom database engine" you will fit just perfectly.

Cons

Company has a policy against internal mobility. That means if company has a vacancy for a Senior SE and you are fit for it, you can not apply for a position, unless you quit the company first. I did not believe it at first, talked to multiple managers and HR to get as many confirmations as possible. That's true: the only way to get to a higher position in EA is to sit tight and wait for your manager to promote you (when someone higher up quits).
And yet again, the huge "Not Invented Here" syndrome. Experience you get in EA has virtually no value for the outer world. So you can build project with the internal EA tool, you can debug EA's internal memcached copycat, you know everything about three different internal frameworks - good for you, but you will never find another company to use them.
Management constantly swings between trends. I've been involved in a project which switched project planning tool 4 times in just 8 months. It also changed application framework halfway through, btw.
Another widely known fact is the overtimes. Management is fine with 4 hours of "beer Friday", but it will ask you to come up on "Saturday" for the 4 hours of work. And you don't have an option to work full day on Friday and skip the overtime.
EA uses ancient software. Most of the developers still use Windows OS! Most of the internal sites only work in Internet Explorer! And so on, from the build tools to project planning software.

Advice to Senior Management

Read your own presentations. Be Bold. Think Consumers First. Innovate. And so on. The company is still able to attract talented people, but fails to use their talents properly. I've seen too many good developers quitting and bad developers promoted to replace them. That's a problem for management to solve.

Pros

- nice team
- salary not bad with the potential bonus
- nice facility
- managers are helpful and protect developers from politics

Cons

- basic salary is just market average
- too many teams and sometimes hard to find the right person

Advice to Senior Management

- pay more for salary
- make a better orientation not just for company as a whole but for specific team

Pros

1. Good Management. Easy to take days off for any reason, and you may work late or on holiday to make up the work hours or you don't get pay for off-days.
2. Good benefit package.
3. Good info/tech shared and good training.
4. Good communication environment. Work/Life balanced.

Cons

1. Salary is just fair.
2. Each product has a deadline for sure, but usually EA doesn't postpone the deadline to polish the product perfect.
3. Company definitely needs creative Game designer...

Advice to Senior Management

1. The company could be more creative.
2. The company buys other company, but make sure you keep the managers/game designers if possible. At least, learn something from them, like management/ core value.

Pros

Great campus and sports facilities. Food is available throughout the day, with free snacks. A place t tackle interesting projects backed by a company that means business.

Cons

Turnover of staff is high. It's not unheard of to sack an entire team then rehire them a few weeks later when the management realizes they did need them after all.
Company tries to promote they have a good work life balance, but in truth they expect long hours and on a fairly regular basis.
Don't forget this company is there to make profit. All other aspirations are secondary.

Advice to Senior Management

Quality comes as a cost. That cost comes from having sufficient staff to meet workload and have time to do a proper job.

Pros

A big name in the game industry

Cons

No career path at all, no one care your career path. Whatever you show your talent they just don't care, no promotion, no advancement moving.

Pros

The company is full of intelligent passionate employees.

Cons

Inefficiencies due to ineffective or non-existent leadership.

Pros

Fun products and output.
Great salary.
Working with talented people.
Bragging rights.

Cons

Politics.
Left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing.
Occasional stress and overwork.

Advice to Senior Management

When you say do something, back it up, and cut the things you don't believe in. This is a mantra we often hear, but it never feels like that on the ground. Too many things are started with good intentions, then the senior management dance around the issues hoping they don't get tarnished with any bad feeling if feathers are ruffled.

Pros

Cheap games, free food, basketball court, soccer field, gym, tons of amenities. If you like making video games, you might enjoy this place.

Cons

If you're creative, you might hate this place. It's a huge company, and so there is very little opportunity for the typical employee to have a say in the vision or direction of anything important.

Advice to Senior Management

Innovate on a small scale. Try sending your developers off to make a few smaller, "indie"-type games and see what happens.

Pros

Work life balance was impressive. Speaks to well planned projects or lack of passion.

Cons

Too corporate, with a lack of vision by upper management. Too many managers were either from QA or bean counters from Production Management. Either way, you can't drive a creative company without giving the creatives forces an equal voice.

Marketing needs to talk to Production

Advice to Senior Management

Marketing needs to report to the EP. Prototype projects before green lighting. Producers are not known for being creative, why are they the drivers?