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Reader Comments (19)

Posted: Oct 27th 2010 6:19PM Dirty said

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The gaming industry is a rough biz. Sometime I want to be a part of it, and then I see stuff like this over and over. Good luck out there folks.
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Posted: Oct 27th 2010 6:39PM TheDarkWayne said

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@Dirty I agree, for every awesome super successful Cliffy B, Petey M, Chris Metzen etc. who get to do the awesome dream job part of it, there's just a million more guys slaving away at the code with terrible job security
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Posted: Oct 28th 2010 3:51AM (Unverified) said

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@TheDarkWayne
That's the case with every industry though.

No job is safe, make sure you have at least 3 years worth of savings.

Then go indie :)
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Posted: Oct 28th 2010 8:34PM TheDarkWayne said

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@(Unverified) Yeah obviously, but not quite on the same level. If the Rockstar and Ea wives are to be believed, lots of places don't get paid overtime, mandatory 7 day weeks, are lied to about their work schedules, and have terrible job security and quality of life all around. I know things are bad in other industries, but this is like 1920s stuff here
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Posted: Oct 27th 2010 6:29PM TheDarkWayne said

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That blows, thank God I turned out to be too dumb to go to college for programming.
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Posted: Oct 27th 2010 6:29PM TheDarkWayne said

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@ben linus None of your posts ever make any sense
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Posted: Oct 27th 2010 6:31PM Pie in the sky said

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@ben linus
I'm guessing you have kids that don't give a crap about you.
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Posted: Oct 27th 2010 6:53PM Rocket Raccoon said

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@ben linus

Out of context replies FTW!
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Posted: Oct 27th 2010 7:14PM Noterist said

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This is actually disgusting.

I know that this is a reality for smaller studios who live off their milestone payments from publishers and can only protects jobs while those payments are still coming in (i.e. until the game ships). It's a shame, but it will take a lot of time and work to fix...

But EA is a PUBLISHER with multimillions and multiple studios under one umbrella. EA is actually in a position to change this "seasonal layoffs" thinking by having studios running parallel projects so that there is work for people to do when they ship a game.

I have a feeling that someone up there in management likes the idea of cutting some chaff/costs come christmas. Sadly, the "chaff" is actually incredibly talented.
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Posted: Oct 27th 2010 7:43PM Kunikos said

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@Noterist 1) ea never delays shipping a sports game 2) NBA Elite 11 was supposed to be the game that let's you forget about NBA Live (why else name change?) 3) Elite 11 gets delayed past the open of the bball season .... You figure the rest out for yourself...
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Posted: Oct 27th 2010 7:44PM C1ph3rDivyne said

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@Noterist
I agree. It sure is disgusting. I was particularly disgusted when that cockhead Jeff Brown (EA corporate spokesperson) stated that "roll-offs" (WTF? why can't you just call it a layoff) following game launches "are common and vital to maintaining a healthy business." You're just saying that b/c your a** has a job. Idiot.Yes, layoffs will happen and are an unfortunate part of any industry but don't make it seem like, "Oh yah, you know it just kinda, y'know...happens."
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Posted: Oct 27th 2010 8:30PM Noterist said

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@Kunikos ... and that isn't something you'd file under "seasonal roll-offs".

Like I said, it sounds like someone wants to cut the chaff, however that talented chaff has managed to put a number of successful games out in the past.

Not to mention, the NBA team isn't the only one hit ... and even then EA Canada is so large they should be able to reallocate people, work on another license or even set up an R&D house (a la DoubleFine) until some good projects come out of it.

EA could do so much for the industry and I reckon they could attract and keep the top talent consistently if they tried.
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Posted: Oct 27th 2010 7:39PM C1ph3rDivyne said

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@GiantGamer
Dang...good luck to you then, mate. Hope you find something soon.
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Posted: Oct 27th 2010 8:35PM wormania said

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This is why we have fixed-term contracts.
Someone enlighten me, what's the statutory redundancy pay like in the US? (I'm assuming pretty bad if companies are so willing to cut people like crazy instead of just putting them on fixed contracts like any sane person would.)
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Posted: Oct 27th 2010 9:05PM leksicon said

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@wormaniyea it is pretty bad.. that's what happens in a country where workers interests are shunned by a government system heavily influenced by corporate lobbyists
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Posted: Oct 28th 2010 12:56AM TheDarkWayne said

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@wormania Erm, I don't think it has anything to do with corporate lobbyists, if that were true I would expect California's game law to not have made it anywhere. From things I've heard, from a few friends who work in the industry, reports like this and most famously that Rockstar San Diego Wives thing, it just seems to be by virtue of being a fairly new industry, pretty unregulated and Wild Westy
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Posted: Oct 28th 2010 12:11AM Electrium said

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Season's greetings, you're fired!

...=(
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Posted: Oct 28th 2010 3:56AM dhughes60 said

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i pray the best for all of ea's employees
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Posted: Oct 28th 2010 7:06PM Arooguy said

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"Seasonal roll-offs" sound like a Walmart term lol.

Anyway EA's current management is horrible, they buy studios and open up studios just to shut them down over time. Maybe if they had better management, they wouldn't have to worry about so many failing projects and re-locations, or don't make your focus owning as many studios as possible, have a good amount of great studios and create partnerships with external developers. Also, make sure you're internal studios are not overworked or working on overpriced projects that are just gonna be canceled or not expected to sell well. I would post a whole note on how I would manage EA but that would be too much and I've already written alot lol.
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