Two weeks after his initial, unusually blunt comment, immersive sim legend Warren Spector has once again taken to LinkedIn to address the BioWare closure at Electronic Arts. This time, he refrains from expletives but, according to PC Gamer, sounds angrier than ever. His central question: “Is there ANY accountability left in this world?”
Spector writes that he was “gut-punched” by the closure. He had not missed the many waves of layoffs in recent years, but BioWare hit him harder emotionally than anything before. Some readers had responded that BioWare’s best days were behind the studio and the closure was a “sound business decision.” This, he says, infuriated him again, as it missed his actual point.
What does Spector accuse the leadership of?
His accusation: Those who make poor decisions in corporations rarely face the consequences. If studio personnel leave the company and talent is diluted, someone creates the environment that drives them away. Those who misjudge the market, over-hire, or underfund, poorly market, or overfund games, lose neither sleep nor their job. Developers, however, must suffer when investors and financial partners take precedence over players. His conclusion: Anyone who calls that a “sound business decision” should never run a company.
How much do EA executives earn, according to Spector?
Spector cites specific figures. According to Spector (as reported by PC Gamer), these EA executives received a total in fiscal year 2026:
- Andrew Wilson (CEO): $38.65 million USD
- Laura Miele (President, EA Entertainment and Central Development): $13.7 million USD
- Stuart Canfield (CFO): $11.3 million USD
- Jake Schatz (Chief Legal Officer): $8.4 million USD
- Mala Singh (Chief People Officer): $8.3 million USD
PC Gamer clarifies that this represents the total compensation over a twelve-month period, with significant increases from the previous year: Wilson reportedly received $30.5 million in 2025, and Miele $9.1 million. The magazine also points out that the salaries are not directly related to the BioWare closure. Wilson’s increase of approximately $8 million was awarded, among other things, for achieving all milestones in the launch of Battlefield 6. A few months prior, according to PC Gamer, there were layoffs at Criterion, Dice, Ripple Effect, and Motive, and Ridgeline Games was completely shut down.
Why does the BioWare debate strike such a nerve?
BioWare is known for Mass Effect and Dragon Age, two of the most influential RPG series of recent decades. That someone like Spector, himself known for immersive sims, mourns the studio so deeply is less surprising than his tone. A finding from the PC Gamer text: Resistance to such compensation packages is rare. A 2020 analysis cited rejection rates for compensation proposals of only 2.7 percent (2019) and 2.6 percent (2018). When EA shareholders exceptionally rejected a planned executive salary increase in 2020, that was the exception. Wilson earned over $21 million that year.
Our assessment (opinion): Spector’s second post feels more impactful than the first because it gets specific. Names and sums replace mere ranting. Whether the figures “explain” the BioWare decision is another question, as they relate to other events according to PC Gamer. However, they certainly serve as a symbol for the disproportion between bonus payments and studio closures. PC Gamer does not mention a response from EA to Spector’s accusations.
Source: PC Gamer
Are Spector’s accusations justified, or is a studio closure ultimately just a sober business decision?
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