As the news of the closure of Bioware and the layoffs that came during that time at EA has time to settle, more information regarding why it happened and the consequences of the decision come to light. Stories from those affected by the layoffs have been shared recently, detailing the current climate of the company and its employees. Initially reported by Verticalslice and followed up on yesterday by PCgamer, workers have become increasingly uneasy regarding their security at EA and the priorities of the company seemingly disregarding them.

In both recent reports, low company morale is cited as the main reason for the worries surrounding the publisher. This low morale is brought on by a growing rift between those who gave reports and the executives that employ them, with one stating that, “EA executives cannot fail, only be failed.” The growing prevalence of AI in game development has furthered the sense of alienation, with some reports claiming that they feel EA could layoff many developers and still publish games using the AI tools available to them. This is accompanied by concern over the quality of games that take that approach.

In addition to the large number of layoffs itself, some have taken issue with the way the layoffs are handled. Information about who is being laid off and the detail surrounding it are reportedly difficult to come by right until it takes effect, which one employee theorizes in the Verticalslice article, “is done to isolate the people laid off.” While the specific reason for EA policies remains unknown, reports have also claimed that employees felt emotional mistreated by the company.

Given its long history as a publisher, EA is no stranger to negative public attention. Time will tell if the reports coming out recently regarding the experience at EA will have any effect on their policies or their future titles.