EA Workers Describe ‘Terrible’ Morale as AI Mandates and Layoffs Follow BioWare’s Shutdown

Less than two weeks after Electronic Arts shut down BioWare and cancelled the next Mass Effect, workers from across the publisher’s studios are speaking out about what it’s actually like inside the company right now, and the picture isn’t pretty. In a new report from Chris Kerr at Vertical Slice, multiple anonymous EA sources described plunging morale, tied to both the wave of layoffs and a heavy internal push toward generative AI.

Workers Say the AI Push Isn’t Optional

According to the sources, staff have been told to “do less, better” while teams shrink, and leadership’s enthusiasm for tools like Claude has reportedly not been shared by the people actually doing the work. Multiple employees said managers have framed AI adoption as inevitable, with one describing the message as essentially mandatory even when it’s never called that outright, and another saying it’s been made difficult to do their job without using the tools at all.

EA Sports FC remains one of the publisher’s most reliable earners, and workers say that success is what keeps riskier bets funded.

EA’s Biggest Hits Are Subsidizing Its Riskiest Bets

One recurring theme in the report is a sense that leadership faces few consequences no matter how projects turn out, with sources pointing to EA Sports FC’s massive, reliable revenue as the cushion that lets executives keep making expensive gambles elsewhere. That frustration lines up with EA’s own recent compensation disclosures. Despite laying off developers from several Battlefield studios earlier this year, EA’s regulatory filings reportedly show CEO Andrew Wilson received around $38.6 million in total pay for the fiscal year, roughly 305 times the median employee salary at the company, largely thanks to Battlefield 6’s strong commercial launch.

Battlefield 6 launched to strong sales this year even as EA laid off developers who worked on it.

Part of a Larger Pattern

The report also revisits BioWare’s final years, with sources describing a studio repeatedly pulled in different directions by shifting mandates and research findings rather than being allowed to take creative risks. EA has said it plans to keep investing in its sports titles, Apex Legends, the next Star Wars Jedi game and an upcoming Iron Man title while other projects face more scrutiny. It’s a pattern echoed elsewhere in the industry this month, with Sony’s Sucker Punch Productions cutting 24 staff despite Ghost of Yotei’s strong sales just days after EA shut down BioWare entirely.

“A cold dead place that’s slowly decaying as leadership pilfers every last cent.”

An EA worker, speaking anonymously to Vertical Slice

EA has not publicly responded to the report. With more restructuring considered likely following the company’s $55 billion buyout earlier this year, it remains to be seen whether morale across its studios improves anytime soon.

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Picture Source: Electronic Arts