Former Visceral Head Says EA Treated Him Like "Sh*t"

[Tom Goldman]

Former Visceral Head Says EA Treated Him Like "Sh*t"

The executive producer of Dead Space isn't happy about how EA treated him when he left Visceral Games.

When you're the manager of a McDonald's and upper management treats you badly, nobody tends to notice when you tweet about it. When you're in the videogame industry, leave EA after creating a great game like Dead Space, and say the company treated you awfully, people perk up their ears, which is exactly what just happened to former Visceral Games' GM Glen Schofield.

In memory of his one year anniversary of leaving EA, Schofield tweeted [http://twitter.com/GlenSchofield]: "Wow, a year ago today I left EA. What a day that was. They really treated me like shit even after creating Dead Space 4 them." Schofield left EA to become the head of Activision studio Sledgehammer Games, which is currently working on a new FPS in the Call of Duty series.

Schofield later tweeted: "Seems my tweet got some attention. Didn't mean to. But after a year of EA bashing us it's good to get it off my chest." I can't imagine why he's surprised by the attention. It seems like every other day someone in the game industry is CEO is a "prick." [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/102135-Indie-Dev-to-Epics-Mark-Rein-F-k-Off]

To air dirty laundry over Twitter is like pasting it directly to the news. This kind of stuff is the videogame press' equivalent to what you might find on TMZ. Hopefully Schofield won't get treated as badly at Activision. I hear nobody has ever had a problem over there. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/98761-Rumor-Security-Locks-Down-Infinity-Ward-Ousts-Studio-Head-UPDATE]

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[The_root_of_all_evil]

Hopefully Schofield won't get treated as badly at Activision. I hear nobody has ever had a problem over there. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/98761-Rumor-Security-Locks-Down-Infinity-Ward-Ousts-Studio-Head-UPDATE]

Now THAT's sarcasm. Jolly good show.

 

[soapyshooter]

From one shithole to another, ooohhhh the irony.

 

[the_pleasure_is_mine]

Goddamnit EA... you always get something wrong... still I'll forgive you for this one because of how great you've been recently.

 

[Arkhangelsk]

Why does it seem that EA and Activision will soon own the whole video game industry in 2 big-ass evil empires? Their names appear everywhere.

 

[tlozoot]

Handbags are a-flying in the games industry as of late.

 

[Mr. Grey]

He made Dead Space 4? Then where the hell is our second?!

I dunno, I rarely follow these things... just seems like another slapfight to me. Did he leave voluntarily or was he forced to?

 

[Jandau]

So basically, both EA and Activision treat their employees like shit and the said employees periodically migrate back and forth, drumming up so called publicity? Big whoop...

 

[The_ModeRazor]

...
Whatever, like it means anything.

 

[Jared]

It all comes out in the end it seems, heh...it wouldnt surprise me actually that they did

 

[Captain Pancake]

"Dead Space 4"? One sequel at a time, buddy.

Terrible humour aside, I have to agree that you hear about major companies treating the working artisans like shit all the time. Maybe if EA, Microsoft, Activision and the like treated their developers with respect we might have some higher quality games out today.

 

[sosolidshoe]

So basically, both EA and Activision treat their employees like shit and the said employees periodically migrate back and forth, drumming up so called publicity? Big whoop...

I find it a little suspicious that this guy is only now, after Activision are being slated for their horrifying treatment of employees, coming out and claiming EA does the same, except he's given no detail whatsoever, and just happens to be employed on the next Call of Duty game, the franchise which caused all this trouble for Activision in the first place.

/tinfoilhat

 

[SilentHunter7]

I find it a little suspicious that this guy is only now, after Activision are being slated for their horrifying treatment of employees, coming out and claiming EA does the same, except he's given no detail whatsoever, and just happens to be employed on the next Call of Duty game, the franchise which caused all this trouble for Activision in the first place.

/tinfoilhat

You can take the tinfoil hat off. You're not the only one who made that connection.

 

[Blue Musician]

I still forgive you EA, at least you are not as bad as Ubisoft and Activision.

 

[The Procrastinated End]

People who make entertainment should be a little more fun-loving....

 

[LewsTherin]

Seems like games devs have been moving their head offices to Menzoberranzan lately, what's up with that?

 

[Loonerinoes]

*snickers* Good article. Very brief, to the point, lots of relevant links and a detached sense of humor about it all. Then again...heh...maybe I am a bit too biased in my judgement on such a topic.

 

[KSarty]

"I didn't mean to bring attention to myself by bashing my former mega-corporation employer on a public forum. Honest I didn't."

Seriously, is the entire game industry populated by junior high students? This crap of "laying into" people who you don't get along with is just so pathetic and low-class. You're not being clever or witty, you're just being petty.