EA an awful place to work. Awful great!
by Kyle Orland 
{ May 16th 2007 at 11:15PM }
Remember when the online buzz about Electronic Arts was all about overworked staff and unpaid overtime? That's so two years ago. The new buzz, apparently, is that EA is the second best place for new graduates to work, according to a Fortune Magazine list.They make a decent enough case -- EA employees get five to ten free games per year, heavy discounts on games and systems, plus amenities like an on-site gym, a DVD library and stock options. Still, given the past complaints, we can't help but gape at Fortune's statement that EA employees "might not have time to spend any of the $60,000 starting salary that's offered to the average entry-level worker." They had to understand the irony dripping from that line when they wrote it. Didn't they?
[Thanks Keavin]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
kingofwale @ May 16th 2007 11:19PM
60K for starting job in the entry position?
How long do you think EA will outsource those jobs?
ridestowe @ May 16th 2007 11:43PM
luckily most of the jobs there they cant outsource, they require skill, not just labor, and years of school.
Cassius58 @ May 16th 2007 11:43PM
I work at EA Montreal and I truly love my job and wouldn't go anywhere else.
John @ May 16th 2007 11:45PM
"They had to understand the irony dripping from that line when they wrote it. Didn't they?"
I don't get what you mean by this.
Jeff @ May 16th 2007 11:48PM
"I work at EA Montreal and I truly love my job and wouldn't go anywhere else."
Gotta love those Canadian labor laws, eh?
BPM @ May 16th 2007 11:52PM
"EA employees get five to ten free games per year..."
Yeah, but they're probably all EA games. :V
Diginutt @ May 17th 2007 12:00AM
Working at Tiburon has truly been quite a pleasure. And to answer BPM, yes, they are all EA games, but when you look at all the games EA makes, that's a pretty diverse library.
aegies @ May 17th 2007 12:01AM
The one person I know who works for EA really likes it. She does sound design.
Oh, and among others, some of the EA games they get discounted or for free include Half Life 2 Orange and Command and Conquer 3.
http://eat-sleep-game.com/news
Evan @ May 17th 2007 12:06AM
Odd, just last night I was talking to a friend who applied for a job at EA. He suggested I work there (I have a BS/MS in comp. engr., and I'm working on a PhD), but I rejected the idea out of hand because of what I'd heard about the working conditions.
Diginutt, I'm in the ORL area (guess which school I go to...); I'm assuming that Tiburon doesn't offer the kind of career that someone with a PhD in computer engineering is looking for, but I am a huge videogame nut and I'm keeping my options open. Am I wrong, and should I look closer at EA either locally or around the country?
Dustin @ May 17th 2007 12:19AM
Evan, I think you should definitely plan your future around a comment on Joystiq.
I kid, I kid. good luck!
Evan @ May 17th 2007 12:23AM
Dustin, I think you should definitely plan your future around...shutting up. :(
The way I see it, I have about two more years of grad. school poverty, so there's plenty of time for me to look into all of my options. And if, while I'm still in the Orlando area, a certain videogames mega-developer/publisher wants to offer me a part-time job with good pay and experience, and maybe later on a sweet full-time gig, that sounds fine by me.
mm @ May 17th 2007 12:41AM
Evan ... Give'em a call.. go in and check the place out. What have you got to loose? You'll have 2 automatic pluses on your side - you'll be going in without a recruiter and you'll have no relocation costs.
I was skeptical about EA before I interviewed but, I started at EA as a 3D artist a little over a month ago and love it ... been in the industry 12 years and EA has the best overall benefits package i have seen, health plan is unreal, good stock plan, good employee stock purchase plan, good pay, good yearly bonus plan, and good opportunity for career moves.
I really think the 'EA spouse' lawsuit was a wake-up call for the company. I have heard a 'no overtime if it can be helped' mantra from day 1. I have worked OT 1 day and it was to makeup for a something i felt i should have gotten done faster.
no experience and a 60k starting salary seems a little high to me... http://gamecareerguide.com/features/266/index.php?page=1
Colin @ May 17th 2007 12:44AM
"luckily most of the jobs there they cant outsource, they require skill, not just labor, and years of school."
Last time I checked CG society, "skilled" people exist all over the world. At the developer I work at (no I'm not naming names), we often get very good stuff from outsourced artists.
Sean D. @ May 17th 2007 1:01AM
"luckily most of the jobs there they cant outsource, they require skill, not just labor, and years of school."
Other countries have extensive CG and programming training programs now. I've worked for an animated TV show for the past few years and we've worked with exceptionally skilled studios in Korea, India, Singapore, and China.
Considering it's the same job pool (at least on the art end of it), I'd say games can be extensively outsourced as well. I think the only think keeping jobs domestic is the huge profit margins. If games didn't make as much money, you'd certainly see a lot more outsourcing.
jaz013 @ May 17th 2007 1:03AM
If they outsource to Mexico with that salary (in dolars) intact, I'll drop my Phd and go to work for them. 60K is way more than any company will pay you as entry here. I mean, the last company I worked was paying me around 13K, although I had the chance to play we new toys nobody else had touched before ;).
bobartig @ May 17th 2007 2:21AM
I worked at EA for 9 months as a tester. I worked in DevTest, so I was basically treated like development instead of QA. I basically made no money, but experienced everything from the dev side.
People were happy, the campus was beautiful, and almost everyone I met was truly doing something that they loved.
I was offered a benefitted contract position until the end of my project (hint: extremely long development time, really famous developer), which could have extended my stay by maybe another year. As a tester, its rare to end up staying over 6 months.
At that point, though, another company was offering me a lot more money, better job, and a change of pace. I was also fairly convinced that I wasn't going to be able to turn my QA position into a real career at EA. Moreso, I thought that experience elsewhere would better serve me in advancing my career.
Author X @ May 17th 2007 2:24AM
Heh, BMP, you took the words RIGHT out of my mouth... er, keyboard. What's the point of free swag when it's EA swag?
LordPaul @ May 17th 2007 2:52AM
Heh, I had a slightly different experience.
I was working for Criterion Software who got taken over by EA. I was in the IT department at the Derby RenderWare office in the UK.
Unfortunately, EA really bought us for the IP of Black & Burnout & the games teams, and they allowed a load of idiot managers from Criterion to remain in charge to flounder & steer RenderWare (which was a great product in the previous generation) into the ground.
I had none of the support from HR because we were sheilded from the rest of the company. The development of RW was sabotaged by studios unwilling or unable to help us out.
Our office was shut down last year. I got a shit redundancy package (but I did get the office 360)
I'm sure that the main offices are great, I still know people who work in Guildford who love it, but I have a bit of a bitter taste of EA.
Thing is, I know that there are some brilliant teams there, and they've managed to acquire some great IP that in recent years has gotten better, but from my experience they are ruthless.
LordPaul @ May 17th 2007 2:52AM
Heh, I had a slightly different experience.
I was working for Criterion Software who got taken over by EA. I was in the IT department at the Derby RenderWare office in the UK.
Unfortunately, EA really bought us for the IP of Black & Burnout & the games teams, and they allowed a load of idiot managers from Criterion to remain in charge to flounder & steer RenderWare (which was a great product in the previous generation) into the ground.
I had none of the support from HR because we were sheilded from the rest of the company. The development of RW was sabotaged by studios unwilling or unable to help us out.
Our office was shut down last year. I got a shit redundancy package (but I did get the office 360)
I'm sure that the main offices are great, I still know people who work in Guildford who love it, but I have a bit of a bitter taste of EA.
Thing is, I know that there are some brilliant teams there, and they've managed to acquire some great IP that in recent years has gotten better, but from my experience they are ruthless.
Terry @ May 17th 2007 4:32AM
Having worked at Tiburon for a number of years, I can say that there are definitely some good and some *bad* times to be had as an EA employee.
The most popular entry-level position is through QA, and you won't be making anywhere near 60K. The pay is actually quite low (even by industry standards) and the hours are long, but you'll learn the development cycle inside and out, if you can survive it, any other industry job is a cakewalk.
Having EA on your resume can definitely open some doors, but just be prepared for what you might have to wade through while you're in their employ.
Oh, and there's no such thing as a part-time job there. You're in for 40 hours/week (and by "40", I mean "80") or you're a no hire. Seriously. Expect that question in the interview. The closest you're likely to get to "part-time" *might* be an internship, but those are offered almost exclusively to UCF students through Tiburon's partnership with the school.
Fortune's article is probably highlighting the EALA or EA Canada studios. Those are the height of luxury. Tiburon's studio is practically a cardboard box by comparison.
Cypher19 @ May 17th 2007 9:23AM
"I work at EA Montreal and I truly love my job and wouldn't go anywhere else."
Ditto here, actually! I did start work here less than two weeks ago, so maybe I'm still riding a bit of a high, but EAM is A-W-E-S-O-M-E to work at. Much better than the cubicle farm that was my last job!
Volt @ May 17th 2007 3:48PM
Hahah! Former EA employee, here. One of the worst job experiences of my life. 60k starting pay? I dunno what fantasy land EA campus they were visiting, but if your idea of a dream job is low pay with brutal hours and a general sense of expendability, then by all means apply at your local campus! I'm sure they'd love to have you for a few months before they toss you into the rubbish bin.
Ryan @ May 17th 2007 6:12PM
EA in Redwood Shores is a slave driver and their salaries suck. They have some nice benefits and a pretty campus, but the working conditions aren't worth it. Those who stay either LIVE for video games, or don't know what they're missing out on at other companies.
FascistUSA @ May 17th 2007 6:15PM
Wow. I've come to NOT TRUST any magazine published in NAZI AMERICA.
The job market sucks and it's getting WORSE.
I'll sell you my MBA and Computer Degree. I don't need it.
JK @ May 17th 2007 6:14PM
If you really think long and hard about this, $60K for 60-100 hours per week drills down to a less-than-ideal hourly pay. Fixed incomes without overtime pay is dangerous when your hours are ridiculously longer than the standard American 40 hour week people assume everyone does.
$60K/52weeks/5days/8hrs = $28.85 per hour (40 hr week)
$60K/52weeks/5days/16hrs = $14.42 per hour (80 hr week)
You still gotta like your job enough or else the time:pay ratio is really not that great.
Xian @ May 17th 2007 7:17PM
I worked on the EA Tiburon testing floor for two years (During the years of NCAA 2003 - 2004) and it's not a bad place to work it's just like any other job but people immediately think because they see offices like Valve and such that you have to have an enormous pay rate and tons of extras. It's a job. You realize that you're job is testing games for testers and my job was database management which was cake so I have to say it was a great place to work.
jgritts @ May 17th 2007 7:34PM
Quote JK - $60K/52weeks/5days/16hrs = $14.42 per hour (80 hr week)
Most (if any) entry level positions are not salary, so 80 hour weeks would == mad overtime pay.
I received a MS in Orlando and started working at EA Tiburon four months ago as an engineer. I love the job, people, benefits, and pay. At this point, I have no plans to go anywhere else.
silks @ May 17th 2007 9:59PM
That magical $60K salary figure is surely for developers, not QA. I've interviewed with a couple of game companies in the past for QA positions, and from what I've gathered the starting salary for Joe Tester is about $35K. And oh yeah, for that $35K salary you'll most likely be working deadly hours. QA jobs in the videogame industry suck. You can make twice as much in other industries.
eric @ May 18th 2007 12:56PM
i am moving down to orlando for a journalism internship this summer. my brother lives down there. the people at the internship said the hours would not be that much so I would still get a job either full or part time. so i appiled to test EA games in Orlando. Have not heard back from them yet but I really don't care how much they pay b/c it will be more that what mny internship pays, which is $500 at the end of July. What do you guys think?
CM @ May 18th 2007 12:45AM
I have worked at EA in QA, and it's definitely hourly pay with OT, and free meals, taxi vouchers etc. for overtime, so it's not a bad gig. It will get tiring after awhile - good news is they have a good system in place for deciding on a career path and moving up. I recommend trying it out if you can get it.
Paula @ Aug 7th 2007 3:21PM
I know that many of you work ridiculous hours at EA/Tiburon thinking that you will be "moving across the street". The pay is horrible for the QA tester,I make a decent wage so I'm supporting my family because of EA's low income wage. Due to me being a member of the legal field I also see a lot of illegal drug use go on in you Orlando Studio. Many of your employees resort to drugs to keep up with the hours as a tester. Therefore, what I see when I pull up to the Lanier building are, guys that don't shower half the time, the same clothes they had on the day before and the quick trip to the car for a quick smoke. I believe the current schedule is 10 a.m.-12p.m.! So much of the time spent there is sitting around waiting on something to come back. Why not utilize those people sitting around? I know that EA previously had a lawsuit that was filed by spouses for this reason! Did they forget about the Tester? They have families to! I believe that EA/Tiburon would be a great place to work if they could iron out some of the politics and get the hours under control. Overtime is great but come on! I hope to see change soon!
EA slave @ May 27th 2007 9:12AM
$60,000 starting salary? I take it this review is about 'bizzaro world' ea. I still work at EA and I've NEVER seen someone below a managerial position start on anything like that. The stocks granted to the employees are WORTHLESS, they're not actually stocks, you only get the difference between the price when you got em to when you sell em, thus if they're at $40 when you buy em and $50 when you sell then you get $10 (so depending on when you get given em they might never be worth anything at all). EA Canada might be alright, but the rest of EA likes to pretend its cleaned up its act but in reality its worse than ever and its still on a downward slope.
tiana @ May 27th 2007 3:44PM
I've worked for EA a little over a year at EA Los Angeles and LOVE it. I've never had overtime unless I asked for "take home work" and it is so relaxed and fun to work here!!!