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Life at Electronic Arts in Montreal

Work Life | November 18, 2004 | 8 comments

And I thought John Baku has been having a rough time at work. A blog post written by the wife of a developer at EA (Electronic Arts) in Montreal has post an anonymous blog entry about what her husband and family is going through since her husband started to working for EA. Can you say unionize? Would good software engineering make a difference?

Related Links:

• Blog Entry: EA Spouse
• News Article: Electronic Arts faces overtime lawsuit

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Comments

November 18, 2004 11:58 PM | Anonymous commented:

Are you sure it’s someone from Montreal? They mention some California law in the article… Also, I found it a bit unrealistic the “85 hours a week” part of the article… Really.. who would really do that?

November 20, 2004 01:44 PM | John Kopanas commented:

The blog entry is written by a spouse of a Montreal employee and the New.com article refers back to that blog entry so I guess I just assumed they were refering to Montreal employees. But I am sure it is all employees of EA.

85 hours is a lot. I have heard of hours like that done at Apple in the early days. I personally can’t work more then 40-50 hours a week… I just start making to many mistakes after that and it becomes counterproductive.

I just say they unionize.

Don’t forget game programmers are very very passionate. They are living out there dream working at a game company like EA so they do whatever it takes to hang onto it.

November 20, 2004 08:49 PM | Anonymous commented:

I agree, but there is a physical limit one can endure like you said.. Having only saturday night off during the whole week… come on! ;-)

An union may be a solution, but I have a feeling that this kind of company would do just like Wal-Mart & McDonald’s: pretend that the studio isn’t profitable enough and threaten to close it.

November 21, 2004 01:16 AM | John Kopanas commented:

But if they can unionize throughout the whole company and not just one office then EA as a whole would have no choice but to change.

November 22, 2004 10:21 AM | mcs commented:

As you mentioned earlier John, these are people living there dreams. Because of that EA has some power. If people try to unionize the company, EA can very easily, say “we’ll fire you”. After all a lot of people want to work in the game industry.

Read books like No Logo and Fast Food Nation for interesting dicussions on Union formation. Its not as easy as “we’re going to be a union”.

November 22, 2004 08:18 PM | Gili Tzabari commented:

Three comments:

1) I am 99% sure this is the situation in the Montreal branch. An acquitance of mine works there and he’s basically confirmed the situation as outlined by the blog (in order words, they work crazy hours and it is implied this is mandatory).

2) They should unionize. We should unionize. People should get off their bloody asses and treat themselves with some respect. Sure EA can fire people but who the f$#@ cares? If you’re given a choice between 80 hours a week and only getting paid for the first 40 hours and sticking it to the company and burning them, my question is: “Where’s the gasoline?” FYI: EA’s wages are below industry standards, I’ve asked.

3) You people are living a pipedream. Someone out there has brainwashed you into thinking that there is such a thing as a “Software Engineering industry” and that it is a “good thing” (tm) that we have the OIQ to “protect” the use of the word Software Engineer. Get over it! The OIQ is nothing more than a pencil-pushing entity that collects money off our backs and gives us nothing in return. The OIQ is a great example of what a union should not be, especially for Software Engineers. If you guys want to unionize, great then do it! But for the right reasons. Do it for yourself, not for some bullshit concept as “The Software Engineering Industry”. We are the industry. Unions should only exist to improve our way of life, not charge us thousands of dollars to apply to become an engineer then to write up some tests where you have to pass a French competency exam (yeah, that part really ticks me off!!). Unless the union improves my quality of living, it should not exist, period.

We need less pencil pushers in the world. We also need more Software Engineers with a backbone, willing to stand up for themselves.

One last point: stop whining about losing your jobs. The living costs in Montreal are dirt cheap. Get out there, group up and start your own damn companies and crush EA and any other industry that treats us like slave labour. We are better than that!

Gili

November 23, 2004 09:45 AM | Ness commented:

I wouldn’t consider game development to be software engineering. Maybe the physics engine and other components could be done with engineering precision, but I doubt it very much.

A friend of mine (Chris Benoit) and his buddies - known as www.ironfusion.com - built their own engine and marketed it. From what I saw, it was definitly not “engineered”, but developed.

The OIQ (Quebec’s version of the PEO?) isn’t a union. They are a regulation body.

They should be setting standards and prosecuting those who fail to uphold engineering standards. If you are not doing engineering work, you have no reason to apply for your designation.

November 23, 2004 10:13 AM | mcs commented:

Ontario also has it a bit different… we have two bodies representing engineers. the PEO (regulation, deals with the public concerns) and OSPE (Ont. Society of Profesisonal Engineers, deals with member concerns—- this would be as close to a union as I can see in Ont presently).

While OSPE, far as I know isn’t fighting for standard wages, peoples jobs, health packages etc, they have done some things for the members (cheap auto insurance springs to mind) which is a start.

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