Electronic Arts Reviews in Vancouver, BC Area

Pros

Flexible work time, very comfortable work place, and have gym.
Very nice people to work with and fun to work on game

Cons

Too much over time sometimes, and you know big company it is slow to get promotion. Pay is alright, but increase is too slow

Advice to Senior Management

Manager changed too often, its not easy to focus on your career since you need to switch team like every year

Pros

Can be a great place to work. Working for a large company has many benefits in terms of pooled resources and investments in technologies.

Cons

Wow micromanagement galore.
Too much management.
Lured to EA to work on small project. Fantastic team, then with success came "improvements" I.e. Almost 1 to 1 producers/managers to developers. Truly bizarre.
Soon there will be more managers then people doing the work.
Lack of respect for people doing the work.

Advice to Senior Management

Let your staff do their job. We know what to do and how to do it. Quite and get a job at Starbucks. At least there you will only screw up peoples coffee.
Live and breath your message. It's totally obvious that EA isn't following the plan management is saying to the staff.

Pros

- working on video game, guess what, it's fun
- lots of stuff to learn, 1 year in EA is like 3 years in other companies, they make you work hard, same time you learn a lot.
- decent pay compare to other people on yearly bases, but hourly, most people will be paid more than you do

Cons

- poor management, a lot managers don't know how to manage, many of them who knows how to manage either laidoff or left to another company.
- poor work life balance, they make you work like a dog, and don't pay you for the OT. Because OT is not paid, managers don't care about proper task estimate, when project is behind, they will just force people to do OT. if you don't want to work OT, they will lay you off, or use other pressure to make you work OT. On many teams, typical way you are asked to work on the weekend is like this, "You will be given next Sunday off, but to get that Sunday off, this week, you must work 12 hrs/day, and work on both Saturday and Sunday this week. "
- raises and bonus are poor, raise is next to zero or inflation
- a lot politics, people who suck up to higher manager gets promoted. A lot people who worked hard get laid off, some people who play WoW all day gets kept and stay on the job
- if you get your stuff done fast because you use brain, you are rewarded with OT to help other people. Some teams, if there's bugs need to be fixed, nobody on the team can go home until all bugs are fixed.
- Outsource to India or other countries is not because it's cheaper and make sense, it's because there's budget for outsource, and team need to spend that money for outsourcing.

Advice to Senior Management

Visit game teams often, and don't tell them when you are coming, and then you see what the team is really like.

Pros

Electronic Arts has good benefits and there are many talented people working on the teams.

Cons

Lots of politics. Poor management at times.

Advice to Senior Management

Improve communication between departments and choose good managers that have proper management skills.

Pros

free games, freedom, nice facility, a lot of events - there was a summer ending party that was fun, can rent stuff from its library

Cons

in the middle of nowhere, ppl are too busy there, need to work on the weekends at times (overtime), food sucked

Advice to Senior Management

the leadership on the NHL team was good, but I heard some of the other teams were terrible - interns were treated well though

Pros

Working on games can be fun.
It's nice to work for a company people have heard of.
Free and cheap games.

Cons

Bloated team sizes and development costs.
Easy to be over managed.
Keep making the same mistakes over and over.
Slow to react to the changing market.
No emphasis on work/life balance.

Advice to Senior Management

Employees need more freedom to be creative.
Take some chances to develop new IP in the online or arcade space.

Pros

- you get to work on some really interesting hardware
- there are some very smart people to learn from
- great facilitates (indoor gym, outdoor soccer pitch)

Cons

- custom build system that uses XML like a programming language and is a total pain to debug
- small cubes with low walls leading to a noisy workspace
- stated company values don't match day to day operations
- promotions are rare and management makes you jump through hoops to get them
- raises are between nothing and inflation at most
- layoffs are standard operating procedure
- working long hours is rewarded more than working smart hours
- no global standards for roles across the company. An SEII in one group can be doing the same level of work as an SSEI in another.

Advice to Senior Management

Stop following everyone else. If a core company value is 'Be Bold' then live up to it. Trying to create a steam killer today is meek following. Jumping into the iPhone space is meek following. Do something new, bold, and different. Take risks. If you keep trying to do what other companies did a year ago you'll keep slowly dieing.

Pros

Really cool gym, has a starbucks.

Cons

Innovation levels at EA are weak at best. The old guard has fallen into a comfort zone and won't be going anywhere for awhile, so don't expect this company to do anything but head downwards.

Advice to Senior Management

Please quit.

Pros

Benefits of the campus: amazing fully loaded gym with trainers and all sorts of excercise classes, indoor basketball/volleyball courts, soccer field, outdoor sand volleyball court, outdoor roller hockey court, organized team sports, huge cafeteria with all sorts of different food (although its way overpriced), free video, books, and game rentals, cheap games for purchase, high profile athletes and celebs coming through regularly, dogs allowed at work, awesome benefits package, excellent lay-off package (if it happens that you need it), lots of brilliant people from all over the world to work with, newest, most cutting edge technology

Cons

WAY over managed! They could cut management in half and there would still be too many of them. Most of the talent at EA are very motivated, creative, intelligent, and educated people and don't need that level of hand-holding. Because of its size, it's difficult to share knowledge between teams and sometimes the wheel gets invented more than once.

Advice to Senior Management

I would like management to cut back on management instead of talented people that actually make the games. Too much money is wasted on management salaries; somehow this needs to be monitored by an outside, impartial party. Maybe it could be more like government where you are only allowed to manage any specific team for a maximum term or something.

Pros

EA is known for killing employees to ship games - on brutal schedules.

The deal is: employees also get a lot out of working for EA. I did, at least. There are lots of very talented people at EA, and (usually) opportunity to 'craft' your own career. Working on blockbuster titles, for the latest consoles, is fun stuff. Hardcore engineers (like me) love having access to the equipment - and the opportunity to make significant contributions to a high-profile product.

And, if you do make big contributions (the kind that are visible to upper management --- like rendering features) it is easy to become a 'top engineer'. Top Engineers are respected across the studio, and are showered with stock, bonuses, and promotions. For 5 years in a row, I got a promotion each year. My 1998 salary of 50k moved to 75k, then to 90k, then to 150k, and finally to 190k. While the promotions are happening, my stock grants are vesting - and I'm unloading them into e-trade for huge gains.

(employee buys nice house, and car with > 300 horsepower)

Is it a perfect company? Hell no. Does it have upside? OF COURSE. If it didn't, people would leave. EA employees usually don't have trouble finding work. They are vocal with their complaints - but are private with the upside (see text above). If the upside wasn't there - everyone would walk out.

NOTE: In 2010, the state of ERTS is so bad, the upside discussed above has almost completely vanished. Now, it is just a horrible job. But- who else is hiring - at the same salary? It isn't a fun place to be right now - but - in this economy - it is probably good that a direct deposit check is hitting the account every 2 weeks. Before the bottom fell out of the economy, everything I said above was true. And, it will probably be true again someday. But - so will the Cons. (Read below). Is it worth it? For some people. Usually, young - out of college, and un-married. As college becomes more distant, and marriage happens, the "upside" at EA isn't quite as attractive. Depending on how high you were able to climb, it might be possible to get into a position where you can continue to pull your salary - and contribute virtually nothing. This eventually leads to depression, however. But, this is starting to sound negative... Go read Cons for more.

Cons

EA is known for killing employees to ship games - on brutal schedules.

Before I continue, I'll admit that I am happy with my own experience at EA (see Pros). What follows is not sarcastic, but is an honest assessment of what I saw over 10 years of employment (at 3 different studios)

Read with a "just the facts" tone - and ignore the cynicism that creeps in (after 10 years, it is impossible to avoid)

EA does kill employees to ship games on brutal schedules. Seriously. The rumors wouldn't be so persistent if there wasn't truth there. Yes, many teams move into a mandatory 6 or 7 day work-week, with 12 hour days (with the occasional over-nighter). At the worst of crunch, I did several weeks of 14 hour days. With a 14 hour day, there is just enough time to get home, get enough sleep to stay alive, and go back to work. This *is* sustainable - for weeks on end, but isn't much fun. All shipping projects crunch. This was true in 1998, and in 2008 - and every year between. Usually, this is assumed - and everyone (silently) knows that it is coming. Sometimes, when morale in the studio is low, management will hold an 'all hands' meeting to launch "new development practices" - and a "more efficient project management system" .... and a promise of a decent work/life balance, and short (or zero) crunch. Employees like the sound of it, but are very skeptical. But, over the next few months, the discover that the Management promises were true!! Sure, there was that 'one big demo' that required some late nights, but - otherwise - the work/life balance isn't so bad!!!

I'm not sure why - but everyone seems to forget that ALL PROJECTS START THAT WAY. The problems start when the team is actually approaching Alpha. Suddenly, the team realizes that major systems - although planned well - have serious integration issues. Oh, and performance issues. Engineers are very quick to blame themselves. They work 10, 11... 12 hour days to work out the 'critical' and 'blocking' problems. Then, it is back to finishing features (but - uh oh - the Alpha date passed!!) ... feature work continues into Alpha, and usually slips a bit into Beta. By this time, the entire team is working killer hours - meals are catered, and hundreds of wives are considering divorce. (Seriously, EA is not a safe place for your relationship). Anyway, by the time crunch arrives - everyone has LONG forgotten about the 'new project management' stuff. Who cares anyway?? The schedule is completely blown (because of multiple failures, it isn't possible to "fault" one person - or one group). Most of the team feels half-guilty for letting the top-management down, and are convinced that they somehow brought this major breakdown upon themselves. So, mandatory 7 day week. We must finish this thing. We'll learn from our mistakes. We know what went wrong, and we won't repeat it. But, right now, we need to get this thing Gold - and shipped to sony and microsoft for approval. QA is still finding class A bugs -- engineers yell at QA because the bug existed "since milestone 2!!" --- why are we just hearing about it TODAY? But, secretly, the engineer also feels guilty for making such a stupid mistake, and works an all-nighter to get it fixed.

He looks like a hero, and management is pleased. Except - all he did is fix his own 'one-liner' bug, and it took him all night to track it down. Accomplishment? No. Paradoxical praise? You bet. (Pay close attention to what a company 'says' they value - and what they actually reward. EA rewards workers that kill themselves to get things done. Anyone that says differently is either hiding from that fact, or lying).

So, the game finally ships, and everyone goes on a week or 2 of comp time (resembling a coma). The game ships, sales are huge, game goes platinum, screen-shots and press coverage is everywhere. It feels good.

Management calls an 'all hands' meeting to discuss the upcoming cycle, and - maybe - promise some big changes. Will it ever change? Of course not. But, notice that EA employees will complain, but they don't actually quit. Like crack, it is easy to complain about - but very difficult to walk away from. (Did you look at the value of your vesting stock? Holy crap!! I made more on stock that my entire salary last year!!!!) But, this is sounding positive, read Pros for more.

Advice to Senior Management

Oh goodness. I'm not sure what to say... Lean on the titles that make money - and try to get out of the other side of this "lost console cycle" - and economy hit. Maybe that $16 stock will start coming back up. If not, I'm not sure that "advice to management" is worth anything --- because the head will be chopped off by the Board. EA needs to turn around soon, but everyone already knows it. If it doesn't happen, the company will "re-org" again -- call it (another) "reset" and lay down big plans for mobile gaming, online, and China. Oh - and replace all the top execs. (If your name includes SVP, you're done).

EA will either pull off a Phoenix move - or collapse, like a dying star.

The really creepy thing? John R predicted this demise - in 2006/2007 - when EA was feeling fairly bulletproof. If you heard his speech on this, you know what I'm talking about. He gave examples of big tech companies that completely folded - and quickly. He cautioned 'resting' on the current business model - and said that it was a sinking ship.

The plans to escape the sinking ship (new business model) failed. Now, EA is doing a 180, and killing all new development. "Focus on the key titles - and build them" (Madden, FIFA, etc). But, how long can you sit like that - and not get run over?

Time will tell.

Good luck, ERTS.

Signed,
the guy floating away on a golden parachute (I traded in the golden handcuffs)

My advice to management: get one of these parachutes - and jump out of the doomed plane.