The creator of Dead Space and The Callisto Protocol shared personal memories of working at EA and Activision and admitted that the companies have lost their status as industry flagships.
Glen Schofield, founder of Sledgehammer Studios and former head of Striking Distance, published an emotional appeal on LinkedIn in which he shared his thoughts on the transformation of Electronic Arts and Activision. These reflections came to him against the backdrop of news about the sale of EA to a consortium of investors led by the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia.
Schofield noted that in just a few years, two publishing giants, who for more than two decades determined the vector of industry development, have entered new phases of their existence. He worked for about ten years in each of the companies, finding them at the peak of their prosperity. That is why, he admits, watching EA and Activision move away from the role of dominant publishers and key training centers turned out to be more difficult than expected.
Activision, he said, functioned differently, but no less effectively. Meetings there resembled controlled chaos: short meetings easily stretched for hours, participants interrupted each other, but each question hit the target accurately, and the time spent was perceived as an investment in the quality of the final product.
Schofield emphasizes that EA and Activision were not just large publishers, but spaces where the careers and professional culture of an entire generation of developers were formed. He directly says that his own path in the industry would have been impossible without the experience gained in these companies.
However, the developer was not limited to nostalgia. He noted that there is also a positive side to the changes taking place: space is being freed up for new leaders, studios and publishers. According to Schofield, the industry has gone through similar cycles more than once and each time found those who were ready to take responsibility and set a new quality bar.
In conclusion, he sincerely wished EA and Activision success in the future and thanked both companies for the years of working together and the impact they had on him personally and on the entire gaming industry.
