Electronic Arts’ management is reportedly pushing employees to use artificial intelligence (AI) in their daily tasks, including coding, concept art, and more. This move towards AI did not sit well with many developers at Electronic Arts, however, as multiple employees have complained about the tool’s efficiency.
EA is one of the largest publishers in the gaming industry, and it has suffered some major changes lately. Back in September, EA confirmed that it would be acquired in a $55 billion deal involving an investor group composed of Silver Lake, Affinity Partners, and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF). The most controversial aspect of the deal was that it included a leveraged buyout, which put EA in around $20 billion of debt.
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EA is Reportedly Pushing Widespread AI Usage Among Its Employees
In a new report by Business Insider, several unnamed EA employees complained about the mandate to increase AI usage in the company. According to these sources, AI programs like the in-house chatbot ReefGPT are being pushed into “just about everything.” For example, AI is allegedly being used to generate code, which requires quite a bit of cleanup later. Devs from areas such as level design have been tasked with helping the in-house bot to learn their work, too, which has sparked fears that they may be replaced. Some employees have also been mandated to use the technology to increase their efficiency, using AI as some sort of “thought partner.”
The report also cited a former senior employee at Respawn, who believes their team was let go due to AI being used in some parts of the QA process by feeding the machine with play-test feedback. It’s not entirely surprising that these changes are happening, considering EA CEO Andrew Wilson has defended AI since 2023, claiming that the technology would "augment our incredible teams."
In fact, more and more developers and executives have praised AI recently. Earlier in October, former God of War executive Meghan Morgan Juinio defended generative AI in game development. She claims AI is a tool that can augment the developer’s capabilities, and the technology will continue to evolve whether people embrace it or not.
Apart from EA, other companies have also been diving into AI. Subnautica 2 publisher Krafton has committed to being a so-called AI-first company, for example. The company intends to automate work and implement an AI-centered management system, using the technology to solve complex problems and improve productivity. Only time will tell how AI will change the gaming industry, and hopefully, it’ll be for the better, and not to the detriment of the workers’ jobs and games’ quality.
- Date Founded
- May 27, 1982
- Headquarters
- Redwood City, California, United States
- CEO
- Andrew Wilson
- Subsidiaries
- EA Sports, Respawn Entertainment, BioWare, EA Vancouver, DICE, Codemasters, EA Mobile
- Known For
- FIFA, EA Sports UFC, Battlefield, Dragon Age, The Sims