"I don't want to work at this place anymore:" EA workers decry mismanagement and corporate greed after mass layoffs

Last week, U.S. publisher Electronic Arts rounded on its workforce less than three months after being taken private by an investor consortium led by Saudi Arabia in a deal worth $55 billion (a deal that comes with its own unique kind of baggage).

Edmonton-based BioWare, the genre-defining studio behind Mass Effect and Dragon Age, was shuttered as part of a wider layoff round that resulted in 400 people losing their jobs. The iconic RPG maker might have taken the headlines, but other internal studios such as Maxis, Full Circle, Motive, Respawn, and Ripple Effect were also placed in the crosshairs, and EA was ready to pull the trigger.

Now, less than a week since the cuts were communicated internally, a group of current and former EA workers have spoken out against a company they feel is being callously reconfigured to fulfil the singular purpose of funnelling cash towards its new private owners.

Taking us back to last Wednesday, multiple sources detail how EA's opaque approach to layoffs is "wildly disruptive," leaving both those impacted and those who remain scrambling to make sense of the situation for days and weeks. Although the layoffs were announced internally via email, we're told that EA does not disclose who exactly has been cut to individuals on a studio level and even some managers.

One employee whose role was eliminated said there is an air of "secrecy" around the process and explained some of her direct colleagues only reached out with farewells after seeing their layoff post on LinkedIn. It's an approach that has become the norm at EA, which purportedly tells workers it must protect the privacy of anybody impacted. Those we spoke with doubt that is the case. "My suspicion is that it is done to isolate the people laid off," says one source, who notes it's a policy that's incredibly disorienting, both emotionally and practically.

"Depending on how large a layoff it is, it can take us a week or two or more to get our bearings back under us and figure out what we're doing," they added. They explain that when people are jettisoned without clear communication, in-progress work is left in limbo. Who has been cut from a particular workflow? What had they completed? How do their peers now rebalance and adapt? Those are just a handful of questions that need untangling before work can continue. Then, there is the human element.

"Emotionally, it's weird," says one source, who explains they often have to use whisper networks to make contact with colleagues at other EA studios to ascertain whether a co-worker has been let go. Instead of ripping the band-aid off in one clean motion, EA forces staff to endure weeks of turmoil. "Part of the devastating emotional impact is basically finding out your friend and co-worker has been let go again and again and again over the course of weeks," they add.