Several media outlets, including ours, reached out to EA for comment about the closing of Maxis’ Studios in Emeryville. Today we are consolidating Maxis IP development to our studios in […] Continue reading...
It sounds like they are only closing one of several Maxis studios when you read the article. They talk about consolidation. I didn't realize that they had other studios than the one in Redwood City. When I was a SimMaster, all the people I worked with were there. I do know that they have EA offices elsewhere, as I friend of mine (before he went blind and decided to retire) worked in Vancouver, BC on the Madsen titles.
Hopefully it comes around and bites them all in the fanny for all the shenanigans they keep doing to their employees.
From what I've seen from friends in the game development industry, EA is not unusual. If someone enjoys working on games, then they take less pay than if they were working on a commercial product and they know that if their product isn't doing as well as the company wants, they're out of a job. And they often are expected to give up "family time" and work as if they were just out of undergraduate and loved the job so much they didn't want a social life. They're often promised things like "a cut of the profits" that never materialize or are laid off before they would be "eligible" to receive it. It's a horrible business and most people who do it, do it because they love the work, not because the work conditions or companies are so wonderful to work for.
