Developer Quits EA with a Game

[Greg Tito]

Developer Quits EA with a Game

A software engineer at EA's Tiburon studio quits his job with an interactive farewell to all the people he met at work.

EA Tiburon in Orlando, Florida is best known as the makers of Madden for the EA Sports brand, but that doesn't mean that some if the employees there might have a more creative bent. Ben Burbank was a software engineer at Tiburon, and he worked with some amazing people during his time there. Burbank decided to leave his position today and he commemorated his experiences in a mini flash game reminiscent of the iPad game Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery. Burbank said "So Long, Old Friends" only took him around seven hours to code, but the effect will last forever.

Play So Long, Old Friends here. [http://youhavetohelp.us/ben/solongoldfriends/]

The game is equal parts touching and slightly disturbing. I won't ruin the experience for you, but it's worth clicking through Burbank's friends and colleagues and learning what they taught him along the way. There's even a bit of a tear-jerker at the end.

I do not possess the programming chops for something like this, but if I ever depart a company on good terms, I hope I can leave something as meaningful as "So Long, Old Friends."

I'm not sure where Burbank will end up, but I wish him the best.

Permalink

 

[Chrono212]

Wow...just wow.

Better than an awkward handshake and misunderstood parting jokes

Pretty fun too...cool work. ^^

 

[Tartarga]

This is how all people should quit their jobs. Letters of resignation are so boring.

 

[Saelune]

He'll be back. He will join some other game company, and eventually EA will buy them out and he will be back in EA's clutches.

 

[rembrandtqeinstein]

OK that is one classy mofo....good luck dood

 

[manythings]

He'll be back. He will join some other game company, and eventually EA will buy them out and he will be back in EA's clutches.

Rofl, so true. And was it just me, or did anyone else feel like he was describing an escape form prison? Like, "these poor bastards were the ones who always got shanked and raped in the showers. They were...the Madden designers."

Clearly EA likes seeing people suffer, otherwise they wouldn't continue holding onto the NFL rights so greedily. If there were at least a few competitors out there, some of the criticism might be redirected.

Well game makers are kind of under siege most of the time. Trolls are always waiting, sleeping in shifts... ready to scream their filthy taunts and oaths from the wastelands they pick over.

Also try blaming the NFL for their part. EA pays a fuck load of cash every year to get the rights and the NFL board (or whatever) could end that at any time. This method pays far better for them.

OT: That's top hat classy.

 

[AngryMongoose]

Personally I quit my job with a 12-gauge shotgun. My boss was a fan of weapons so I got it for him as a parting gift. But then I found out he slept with my wife, so I shot him.

Jokes of course. I don't have a wife.

 

[MrShowerHead]

Okay, so I know what I'm going to do when I get out of school...

 

[headphonegirl]

That has to be the best way to leave a job ever, I want to do something like this when I leave my job.

 

[beema]

Very nice tribute/farewell.

I wonder if a lot of people pass through Madden's halls as a stepping stone on to better/less stupid game design jobs?

 

[Johnnyallstar]

That was very cool.

 

[The Lost Big Boss]

Wait, isn't this story like a couple years old? I remember some one else doing the same thing a couple of years ago. Someone please tell me I'm not just going insane.

 

[Azex]

its ironic that his game was better than anything EA has produced in the last 8 years. i wonder if they are gonna sue him for the rights since he built it on company time.

 

[Cool Welshy]

Well, if I had to write my letter of resignation, I'm hoping it would be like this.

Provided of course, if I had a job...

 

[nerfando]

Wow, the music was freaking awesome.