Business as usual then.

It's like that "how many times do we have to teach you this lesson" meme. It's capitalism. Capitalism always does this. The people calling the shots and keeping the profits aren't the people doing the work.

So... like before but with AI thrown in there? Ok.

https://www.verticalslice.news/ea-workers-decry-mismanagement-and-corporate-greed-after-mass-layoffs/

Has morale at EA ever been good?

People saying "nothing new", but they did used to have Diversity and Inclusion as a cultural pillar (albeit mostly performative in practice, like the rainbow logo appearing for pride month in every region except the Middle East). I expect that's all been burned down now.

Bad things can always get worse...

Yes, that's capitalism in a nutshell. For anyone who doesn't understand what we mean when we say "late-stage." This is the endgame. It always has been.

i worked at EA Several years ago. I can only imagine how bad it is now. At the time I worked there though, I could not believe the bullshit I was dealing with at that studio. I've never seen anything like it anywhere else in the game industry. The most hostile work environment I've ever witnessed. When I was there they were literally making shit up about their employees to get out of paying them their bonuses.

i thought i'd be better after selling to the saudis... /s

Is this article new or a decade old?

When was this not the case? In the 80's?

It was just 'here is what these 14 UXR [User Experience Research] studies are saying, so we've got to do it this way."

I've never worked in games, but in consumer tech apps, any UXR study that's not done in active collaboration with the team is (almost but not entirely) useless. And that's assuming they're done in good faith - actual learning goals, non leading questions, full coverage of user segments. It's just so easy to use "14 UXR studies" to justify whatever you want to do by stripping out context or cherry picking studies.

I believe it. I spent 12 years at a company where the governing philosophy was "just get it done", and the only upside was finding ways to do the jobs of three people helped me get the job I have now at a much, much better place.

Okay, so I know that a lot of venture capital or whatever likes to buy a company then just turn it into a husk of its former self, but how the hell do these companies profit from this shit?

I have to check in on my friend that works there. It worries me when I don't hear from him for a couple days. Hope that explains the situation.

What kind of psychopath would stay there. Run for your lives!

At EA. Surely not‽

Bring in the liquidators!