EA Redwood Shores’ bossman Glen Schofield has revealed some of the climate right now among the development teams, saying honesty is critical.
Schofield has told them he doesn’t know if it’s ”the end or not” but if they ”continue to make great games”, like the acclaimed Dead Space, then ”we’re not going to lose our jobs.”
After redundancies were made at Schofield’s own Red Shore team he needed to get morale back on track. ”Well, it’s not the easiest job in the world. That day I got the whole studio together and just stood up in front of them as said, ‘Let’s talk’,” he tells GamesIndustry.biz.
”I said, look, I can’t tell you if this is the end or not, but we’re making some great games here. If we continue to make great games, if we continue to push this, we’re not going to lose our jobs. Because we’re making great stuff.”
Dead Space was received with high critical acclaim but suffered in sales and didn’t meet the companies forecast expectations. This was down to a saturated release window with a lot of other videogames coming out, and consumers still weary of the economic downturn.
”People who aren’t making great games are going to lose their jobs,” said Schofield . ”But if you’re making quality and we continue to push on that, and you’re a quality person then you’re going to keep your job.”
He likened EA to what IBM went through all those years ago and said now the company is stronger than ever. ”They sort of reinvented themselves and now they’re great again. Intel, all these companies have done it. I’m convinced EA’s going to do it.”
EA Redwood Shores is currently working of The Godfather II due this April and on the Dante’s Inferno videogame expected next year.
