EA: The Inside Scoop

prince1142003 · Post by **prince1142003** » 27 Dec 2006, 03:45

I came upon this LiveJournal blog by an anonymous spouse of an EA Studios programmer. It's an interesting read, to say the least. It'll give you a new perspective on what's going on with EA, and gives you some idea of what to expect from EA and why. Go ahead, read it.

Full article: http://ea-spouse.livejournal.com/274.html

GioDeR · Post by **GioDeR** » 27 Dec 2006, 03:52

Yup, EA are slaving theire employees for every penny! Only the money that counts! Bastards!

Toshiro · Post by **Toshiro** » 27 Dec 2006, 03:53

Sounds like a miniature America:

Working off the backs of millions of illegal immigrants without real pay.

prince1142003 · Post by **prince1142003** » 27 Dec 2006, 03:55

Kinda says what I've been saying all along about EA. Blame the corporation, not it's programmers.

Flameking · Post by **Flameking** » 27 Dec 2006, 04:25

this is old news to me. years ago i wanted to be a gaming programmer and mainly for EA (Redwood) and i think i had a convo with EA on the phone for something like beta testing and such and such...and then i got a tour of EA Tiburon (the sports parts of EA) since i live in florida and yadayada some beta testers told me how it was hard doing stuff for EA and said i would be in hell doing their programming work for them.

Someone pointed this out to me 2 years back and i started to have 2nd thoughts about EA. Seeing their lineup of games since 2005, its been going downhill and it seems now that everyone is finally noticing it.

Skyline_man · Post by **Skyline_man** » 27 Dec 2006, 04:33

"Its pretty good environment for people to be able to work in."
Check the video at 1:09 min.

korge · Post by **korge** » 27 Dec 2006, 04:57

What teh Fawk....

One question? If I may? What kind of wife knows this much about the things that go on at EA? Im guessing that the employee at EA wrote this and said it was a Spouse of a Employee.... BS...

Another one... There is ABSOLUTLY NO PROOF that this post is real or just a phony anti-EA piece of crap.. I know many people hate EA so this is something new? I dont think so...

Turbocharger · Post by **Turbocharger** » 27 Dec 2006, 06:04

This seems pretty real to me. Very real indeed

t3ice · Post by **t3ice** » 27 Dec 2006, 14:02

Man..its more humiliating then imagined

...
I mean ..working 12 hours, 7 days a weak..thats just firetrucked up right there!!
.. :X No wonder the games keep getting lame!

EcksOa · Post by **EcksOa** » 27 Dec 2006, 15:35

korge wrote:What teh Fawk....

One question? If I may? What kind of wife knows this much about the things that go on at EA? Im guessing that the employee at EA wrote this and said it was a Spouse of a Employee.... BS...

Another one... There is ABSOLUTLY NO PROOF that this post is real or just a phony anti-EA piece of crap.. I know many people hate EA so this is something new? I dont think so...

A spouse would be privy to whatever his or her spouse tells her when they actually do get some time off. The husband had to come home. She's likely going to be curious about the new job, and even more curious as to why she's seeing him less and less. Whether it's a complete picture, clouded by the alleged husband's frustrations, it's hard to know.

So it would not surprise me to find out some EA employee's wife may knows some things about their labor practices.

But I do agree with your questioning the validity of the article itself. There is no proof. It might be a different thing if a journalist got in touch with the author of the blog, at least there's the expectation that they'd make sure to confirm that this person is who she claims to be, that her husband does work at EA, etc.

Post by **GT3x24x7** » 27 Dec 2006, 15:45

What else is the poor guy gonna have to talk about with his wife except work, anyway? It's not like he's been doing anything else.

EcksOa · Post by **EcksOa** » 29 Dec 2006, 09:29

Having looked around for more on the subject, it turns out that blog was the beginning of what turned into a class action lawsuit employees filed against EA. In fact, the identities of the spouse and her husband were revealed in a newspaper article published after the lawsuit had been settled.

Source: http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_i ... story=9051

April 26, 2006

Programmers Win EA Overtime Settlement, EA_Spouse Revealed

Programmers Win EA Overtime Settlement, EA_Spouse Revealed Software engineers have won a $14.9 million settlement from Electronic Arts, in a settlement of a California class-action lawsuit over unpaid overtime, following a similar $15.6 million settlement reached in October with graphic artists.

According to the new settlement, some of the entry level programmers will be reclassified as hourly workers, making them eligible for overtime pay. In return, they will be allowed a one time grant of restricted company stock, but will no longer receive stock options or bonuses.

The $14.9 settlement money will go to programmers at various levels who worked at Electronic Arts between February 14th, 2001 and February 14th, 2006. The settlement is expected to be a catalyst for changes, not only in other video games publishers and developers, but in other software companies outside of the games industry.

EA also announced that any unclaimed portion of the settlement will be go to the Ronald McDonald House Charities and to establish scholarships at five selected universities for female and under-represented minority students interested in studying interactive entertainment. The five universities are Carnegie Mellon University, Cornell University, Georgia Tech, Stanford University, and Morehouse/Spelman College.

In the wake of the first settlement last year, Electronic Arts reclassified around 440 employees, including 200 entry level artists, so that they could claim overtime. Major deadlines were also moved to Fridays instead of Mondays in order to encourage a normal five day working week.

Following this major announcement, Silicon Valley newspaper the San Jose Mercury News has published an article revealing the identity of the much-discussed EA_Spouse to be Erin Hoffman, the then-fiancee of Electronic Arts programmer Leander Hasty, one of the specifically named plaintiffs in the employment-related lawsuits against EA. He filed the suit after experiencing extreme 'crunch time' developing Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth at Electronic Arts Los Angeles.

The two are now married, and work together in Troy, New York as designer and programmer respectively at independent developer 1st Playable Productions, and are working on website Gamewatch.org to help discuss and monitor problems with working conditions in the game industry.
POSTED: 05.50AM PST, 04/26/06 - David Jenkins

Post by **GT3x24x7** » 29 Dec 2006, 09:34

Chalk one up for the little guy!

Turbocharger · Post by **Turbocharger** » 29 Dec 2006, 09:43

Woohooo, EA got there asses kicked for once

weedman173 · Post by **weedman173** » 29 Dec 2006, 09:52

t3ice wrote:Man..its more humiliating then imagined ...
I mean ..working 12 hours, 7 days a weak..thats just firetrucked up right there!!
.. :X No wonder the games keep getting lame!

I'd have no problem working those hours assuming I got the pay I deserve. I worked 11 hours a day 6 days a week last summer at two jobs and I'm only 15. I realize that dish washing and collecting parking fees is a lot different than a game developer and may be easy. I'm sure if I were older and married in the same position my opinion would be completely the opposite but this is just my opinion on the matter.

Post by **GT3x24x7** » 29 Dec 2006, 11:49

weedman173 wrote:I'm sure if I were older and married in the same position my opinion would be completely the opposite..

Exactly.