Electronic Arts

EAC is the largest and most stable video game employer in the area. As a studio that primarily develops yearly iterative sports titles, you have the security of always having a project after your current title ships. It has escaped relatively unscathed the recent layoffs and studio closures in Vancouver (cf. Radical, Relic, Propaganda, Slant Six, Blue Castle, ...).

The engineers here create interesting software with some of the best technologies in the industry. This attracts smart people who are passionate and creative. You will be intellectually stimulated and generally not be bored.

Great on-site recreation facilities:

• Soccer pitch
• Fitness gym
• Indoor and outdoor basketball court
• Roller hockey rink
• Beach volleyball court

Great on-site services, for a fee:

• Tailor
• Barber
• Dry cleaning
• Physio/massage
• Car wash

Generous benefits:

• Health insurance
• Discount stock purchasing
• Partially matched RRSPs
• Free/discounted EA games

Perks and large parties are made possible by being the largest game studio in town with 1000+ employees.

Given a mandate to produce new sports games every year, the culture and modus operandi at EAC is to maximize output above all else. You see this in management's attitude towards career development and work-life balance. Some people deal with it by aggressively managing their careers, but more passive individuals end up frustrated, burnt-out, or quit. You get an environment where people who complain loudly, put down others, or engage in politics get better treatment than those who just do their job well.

With the heavy emphasis on output, managers with strong project management backgrounds get hired. They are excellent at keeping the project on track but often make poor people managers. They will not be an advocate if you ask for something that does not directly translate to increased output for the project. Say you've become experienced in a certain area and would like to transfer to try something new. This is seen as a risk to the project (loss of an experienced engineer in one area, addition of a newbie to another area) and may be declined outright by management. As mentioned in another review here, the term "business need" is commonly thrown around in these situations.

Focus more on long-term career growth for your employees. Otherwise, they will just take the knowledge they gained and quit, rather than staying and improving our competitiveness.