EA Executives Received Large Bonuses Despite Layoffs
EA recently made headlines with a new wave of layoffs, and the payments it made to its top executives have drawn criticism. The publisher’s decision to pay its management team millions of dollars in bonuses and stock, while simultaneously reducing its workforce, has sparked harsh criticism, particularly on social media. The company justifies these payments by citing the games’ achievement of predetermined targets.
EA Executives Received Millions of Dollars in Payments
According to the company’s new financial report, CEO Andrew Wilson’s total payments for fiscal year 2026 reached $38.7 million. This amount includes salary, bonuses, and stock awards. Chief Financial Officer Stuart Canfield received $11.3 million, President Laura Miele $13.7 million, and Human Resources Director Mala Singh $8.3 million. The company’s chief legal officer also received $8.4 million.
These figures come after EA recently made further layoffs in non-development teams in the US and India. The exact number of job losses wasn’t disclosed, but it’s noted as the company’s third wave of downsizing in recent times. Naturally, the fact that executives are receiving high bonuses while employees are being laid off raises questions about how “success” is measured within the company.
According to EA, the targets that justified the executive bonuses were largely met. Battlefield 6 met its pre-launch quality targets, received positive reviews, and its online services operated reliably. EA Sports FC met its player retention targets, while FC Mobile saw growth in certain regions. Apex completed its planned milestones, and Skate exceeded its expected player count in early access.
The American Football series surpassed its sales target, while The Sims achieved some targets through its user-generated content market. While the overall picture looks successful for the company, the same cannot be said for the employees. Even if the high executive bonuses are justified by the games’ commercial performance, announcing them immediately after the layoffs creates a very negative image. EA’s decisions have once again highlighted the gap between growing revenues and employee safety in the industry.
Read More: Spider-Man Games Influenced the Action of Brand New Day
