steve kwan user experience designer

Electronic Arts is ridiculously evil

(September 15th, 2005 - 11:38PM)

Uh oh. Blinking text. You know I mean business.

My roommate was fired today from Electronic Arts Vancouver. His contract probably forbids him from publicly slandering EA for their conduct, but I am not bound by any such arrangement, so here we go.

My roommate - let's call him Steve, just because that's my name - had been working as a game tester at EA for just under six months. Despite the fact that Steve's pay was dangerously close to minimum wage, he liked his job and worked hard. Those who've heard the rumors and read the blogs about EA "corporate culture" surely know that they're a little rough on their employees. The following story is no exception.

Steve had been working his ass off on a new project. After six months, Steve was supposed to get a review and possibly a raise. He'd been working really hard on this latest project because he really wanted to impress management. So you can imagine his suprise when after the project was complete, over half of his team got the axe. They were no longer needed. It seems that after a major project, EA thinks it's appropriate to do a little staff housecleaning. You EA employees might want to think about this the next time you're asked to work an 80 hour week.

How's that for a reward? You complete a project and you get fired. If this is how EA always handles their personnel, I'm surprised they keep staff long enough to stay in business. But it gets better.

Steve was laid off two weeks before he qualified for Employment Insurance. If EA had kept him on for an extra two weeks, he would have been able to get some money to keep him going while he looks for a new job. But since it was so important to EA that they lay him off right away, he's got no source of income. This was completely without warning. In fact, EA was giving Steve quite the opposite idea; as previously stated, Steve was expecting a raise, not his final paycheque. It completely blindsided him.

Steve was given a box and escorted off the premises; if he comes back in the next six months, the police will be called. Ironic that EA is treating Steve like a criminal; after all, it was EA that sucked Steve dry and unceremoniously shat him out.

So how does EA get away with this? After all, this isn't an isolated incident; many other people are exploited by EA daily. I encourange everyone to boycott EA products, and more importantly, share your stories. Publish them online. Tell them to anyone who will listen.