Today was my last day working for Electronic Arts, just shy of 24 years. I’m happy about new opportunities and change is good, but I’m sad leaving a lot of friends behind. Interesting enough, I don’t really consider any people I’ve worked with at EA Mobile friends. I’m talking about all the people I worked with at EA Sports. This past four years have been isolating. Looking for a new job gives you time in order to reflect and thinking about what matters to you. What matters to me is making video games. My role for the last three years has been sitting above several game studios and helping guide. I’ve felt like I’m running a business and not making video games. I’m a video game maker. I can just tell by the memories and people I’ve connected with. That shared sense of accomplishment as we struggle to get a game out the door creates strong bonds. That’s also why I am one of the people that believes in working in an office. There’s that ability to iterate on ideas faster when you are together in a shared space. For individual artists and engineers, I understand collaborating and then wanting some quiet time to concentrate and perhaps you can do that better from home, but nothing beats being able to bounce an idea off someone a few desks over.
Next week I start working for Bethesda Game Studios. I’m starting remote from Orlando, but we are looking to sell our house and move to Austin so I can be closer to the team I’m going to be working with. I’m looking forward to new opportunities and making new friends. Change is hard, but sometimes it’s for the best so that you can get back to what you like best: making games.
Jason French 