Following the closure of the cult studio, the industry legend sharply criticizes management and contrasts Andrew Wilson’s bonuses with the wave of layoffs.
It’s been just two weeks since Warren Spector vocally vented his anger—triggered by EA’s sudden decision to shut down BioWare after Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund PIF and venture capitalists took over the publisher. Now the legendary developer is speaking out again—and is apparently more furious than ever.
“I recently shared my thoughts on EA’s closure of BioWare,” Spector wrote in a post on LinkedIn. “Anyone who read my post knows how angry I was. Nothing has changed in that regard. The tragedy of the countless layoffs in recent years certainly didn’t go unnoticed by me. But for some reason, BioWare’s closure hit me emotionally harder than anything before. It felt like a punch in the gut.”
Spector vehemently refutes the claim that the studio was shut down as part of a “reasonable business decision”—for example, because the studio’s “artistic and commercial heyday is a thing of the past” and “companies can’t live on their history alone.” It was reactions like these, in particular, that apparently prompted Spector to take up his keyboard once again. For he does not agree with this assessment at all.
“Culture Killers” Without Consequences: Spector’s Blunt Assessment of Executive Leadership
“When experienced people leave at the studio level and valuable talent is lost as a result, someone is creating an environment that drives them away,” he asks. “Do these ‘culture killers’ ever pay any price for this? When executives misjudge the market, hire people en masse, or make decisions that result in underfunded, overfunded, or poorly marketed games—does that keep them up at night, let alone cost them their jobs?”
“Do those same executives suffer as much as the developers when the wishes of financial partners and private investors take precedence over the people who actually create value—let alone the interests of the players? Does anyone up there in the executive suite even care? Is there still any sense of responsibility left in this world? Apparently not.”
Million-Dollar Salaries Despite Mass Layoffs: Spector Denounces EA’s Top Executives’ Pay
He then lists the annual compensation that some of EA’s top executives pocket every year. These include:
- Andrew Wilson (Chief Executive Officer): $38.65 million
- Laura Miele (President): $13.7 million
- Stuart Canfield (Chief Financial Officer): $11.3 million
- Jake Schatz (Chief Legal Officer): $8.4 million
- Mala Singh (Chief People Officer): $8.3 million
“Tens of thousands of creators and creative minds are out on the street—and these folks seriously think they’re worth that much money?” Spector adds. “And if you think this is about ‘sound business decisions,’ I sincerely hope you never end up running a company. Or that people are at least smart enough not to work for you.”
Back in August, Warren Spector announced his retirement from game development. His decision came shortly after his latest project—Thick as Thieves—received a final major update just a few months after launch. Despite all its charm and low price, Thick as Thieves unfortunately didn’t sell as well as hoped, which also led to layoffs at Spector’s studio.
The action game impresses with its well-implemented lighting systems and solid performance, but visually requires players to accept gradually reduced detail.
Shift Up’s Stellar Blade has been available on the Nintendo Switch 2 since this week. While you’ll have to put up with a few compromises compared to the other versions, overall the action game holds its own on the console.
Meanwhile, the team at Digital Foundry has also published its technical analysis of the Unreal Engine 4 title. According to the experts, the port turned out better than expected and features fewer compromises than other current titles.
Mild Compromises Instead of Graphic Cuts: Digital Foundry Praises Visuals
“Technically, the game doesn’t break any new ground,” they say. “The rather conservative graphics approach doesn’t push the current console generation to its limits the way many other big-budget productions do. But in the end, that’s exactly what makes for a Switch 2 port that turns out better than expected and requires far milder compromises than some more recent releases.”
“Not every detail remains untouched, but the visual style doesn’t suffer at all from omitted lighting systems or the like. Instead, players should expect gradually scaled-back assets, most of which only really stand out when viewed in direct comparison.”
Frame Generation Instead of Native 40 fps: Solid Verdict and Playable eShop Demo
Given the Switch 2’s CPU and GPU limitations, Digital Foundry also considers frame generation “not a bad choice.” For Stellar Blade, however, they would have preferred a 40-fps option instead of 60 fps with frame generation. You can also disable the feature, which causes the frame rate to stabilize at around 40 fps.
All in all, the technical experts rate the port as “solid,” noting that it delivers a highly playable experience. Anyone who wants to try it out for themselves before making a purchase can download a demo from the eShop.
