• 30Jul

  ‘Make a Wish’ come true….

  EA Outreach 207 Comments

  

  A key goal in creating this blog site was to peel back the skin of EA and let you see behind the scenes.  Many children the world over enjoy playing video games but for many a chance to get a guided tour of an EA office is a real dream come true.

  EA are big supporters and partners of the ’Make a Wish’ Foundation.  ‘Make a Wish’ is very close to all our hearts at EA.  We have hosted children through ‘Make a Wish’ at our LA, Redwood Shores, Burnaby, Tiburon and UK offices.  For those that may be unfamiliar about ‘Make a Wish’ they have, since 1980,enriched the lives of children with life-threatening medical conditions through its wish-granting work. The Foundation’s mission reflects the life-changing impact that a Make-A-Wish experience has on children, families, referral sources, donors, sponsors and entire communities.  The Make-A-Wish Foundation was founded in 1980 after a little boy named Chris Greicius realized his heartfelt wish to become a police officer. Since its humble beginnings, the organization has blossomed into a worldwide phenomenon, reaching more than 174,000 children around the world.  For more details and hopefully to volunteer your help and support please go here:  http://www.wish.org/

  One such boy is Chandler.  His dream was to see behind the scenes at EA and we were only to happy to show him.  It was a privilege for us and a great time was had by all.  I thought it would be cool to share a few photos of this great day at Pandemic Studios in LA.  Thanks Chandler for a great day.

  EArl

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  © 2009 Electronic Arts Inc. All rights reserved. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners

  

  

  Tags: Make a Wish Foundation

• 24Jul

  Insight into working for EA Bright Light…recruiting contractors TODAY!

  Opportunities 182 Comments

  

  EA’s Offices in Guildford, UK

  Exciting news all.  Bright Light, based in the Guildford Studios, is recruiting for contractors, so I thought I would throw the spotlight on this great studio, home to Harry Potter and Hasbro Games including Family Games Night, so you can get a flavour of studio life and hopefully see a contract role that tempts you to apply to join the team.

  

  Let’s start by getting a feel for Bright Light.  Over to Vice President and General Manager, Harvey Elliott to give us an insight…..

  ‘EA Bright Light began life as the EA UK studio back in 1995 – the studio synonymous with most successful movie-game series of all time, Harry Potter.  It also has a deep and rich gaming heritage through the acquisition of Bullfrog Productions, with games such as Theme Park, Syndicate, Populous and Dungeon Keeper as names that are familiar to many of us in the industry today.  

  We set up a new identity as EA Bright Light in 2007, with a focus on young audiences and family oriented entertainment and now predominantly build games for the EA Play label, whether it’s continuing our work with the Harry Potter series or developing original properties, alongside numerous projects under a long term Hasbro relationship.  But it doesn’t stop there, because of our expertise in creating games for Nintendo and handheld platforms, we are also working with other divisions within EA to consult and produce specific skus.  For instance, our handheld team have developed Need For Speed Shift for the PSP. 

  

  Our goal is to become the world’s leading character action studio, making games that all the family can enjoy.  We have a number of new IPs in development that, alongside Harry Potter, will take us there.  We have a great team of full-time employees, but constantly need to boost our skills with the very best in contracted and outsourced staff – giving us flexibility to quickly ramp projects up when we move from pre-production into production and to seek out the very best skills for the games that we build.  And in the process we work hard to manage the work/life balance that is often under scrutiny in the industry – it is possible to make great games and still have fun as well as a social or family life.

  Maybe it’s time for you to join EA Bright Light at one of the best places to work within the games industry’.

  Thanks Harvey.

  

  The reception area of EA’s Offices in Guildford.

  So, after Harvey’s insight, what jobs is the team looking to recruit asap?  These are all contract roles.  We have attached 2 links.  The first link is to apply for the contract role.  The second is a link to see a full job description.

  Business Title	Apply-To-Job URL	View Job URL
  Contract Software Engineer	apply_contract_software_engineer	view_contract_software_engineer
  Contract Integrator	apply_contract_integrator	view_contract_integrator
  Contract Character Concept Artist	apply_contract_character_concept_artist	view_contract_character_concept_artist
  Contract Environment Concept Artist	apply_contract_environment_concept_artist	view_contract_enviromnment_concept_artist
  Contract World Concept Artist	apply_contract_world_concept_artist	view_contract_world_concept_artist
  Contract Level Designer	apply_contract_level_designer	View_contract_level_designer
  Contract Graphics/Systems Engineer	apply_contract_graphics/systems_engineer	view_contract_graphics/systems_engineer
  Contract Gameplay Engineer	apply_contract_gameplay_engineer	view_contract_gameplay_engineer
  Contract World Artist	apply_contract_world_artist	view_contract_world_artist

   

  To help give one further flavour of life at Bright Light, we have taken some photos to help.

  EArl

  

  

  

  © 2009 Electronic Arts Inc. All rights reserved. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners

  

  

  Tags: Bright Light, Contract Jobs, Harry Potter, Harvey Elliott, Hasbro Family Game Night

• 24Jul

  That was the week that was…….20th – 24th July

  That was the week that was..., Uncategorized 107 Comments

  

  The end of another week of great content….lifting the lid behind the scenes of EA.

  Next week….more on NHL 10 and the superb NFS Shift.

  As a recap of articles this past week…..

  That was the week that was……20^th July – 24^thJuly

  Are you going to Comic Con this week? Come and meet us! http://bit.ly/pUhi1

  College Days @ EA Redwood Shores http://bit.ly/n2n1V

  ‘I Wanna Be Your Man’! http://bit.ly/196DdV

  David Rutter caught in the back of a Cab….talking FIFA!!! http://bit.ly/144Pn1

  Girls just wanna have fun….. http://bit.ly/1eN2l

  Inside an EA Launch Party…..is working in video games fun? http://bit.ly/4Ckw8

  ‘King of the Court’……who won? http://bit.ly/Mj8JP

  The Saboteur http://bit.ly/8CBNJ

  Rockin’ the Playboy Mansion http://bit.ly/8zAM1

  FIFA 10….Listening to the Community http://bit.ly/L1XfA

  Dead Space Extraction: The Comic http://bit.ly/qF2bF

  Mass Effect: The Comic Series http://bit.ly/PXeOx

  Friday Fun….it’s Caption Time…..make us giggle http://bit.ly/2wp3IK

  

  © 2009 Electronic Arts Inc. All rights reserved. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners

  

  

  Tags: NFS: Shift, NHL 10, That was the week that was...

• 24Jul

  Friday Fun….it’s Caption Time…..make us giggle

  Friday Fun 257 Comments

  

  Yay.  It’s Friday.  The end of the week.  That means it’s caption time.  Looking forward to the weekend.

  Before then…..let’s have a Friday laugh…..please keep it clean this week!

  EArl

  © 2009 Electronic Arts Inc. All rights reserved. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners

  

  

  Tags: Friday Fun, Sims 3

• 23Jul

  Mass Effect: The Comic Series

  EA Comics 131 Comments

  

  More Comic Con news….so if you are there….check this out.  And this is just as exciting…especially for fans of Mass Effect.  BioWare and Dark Horse Comics have announced a new comic book series based on Mass Effect, the blockbuster sci-fi action videogame that IGN.com rated the #1 Xbox 360™ game of all time.

  Again sharing the press release for you:

  ‘In Mass Effect: Redemption, the story takes readers through the treacherous events leading up to Mass Effect 2 which opens with galactic hero Commander Shepard having mysteriously gone missing and left to fight for survival. What unfolds next will expose readers to new locations, aliens and extended storyline in the Mass Effect universe. Mass Effect: Redemption is scheduled to launch in January 6, 2010.

  The Mass Effect: Redemption story is written by Lead Writer Mac Walters at BioWare. Walters is the script writer behind Mass Effect 2. He brings unique insight to the Mass Effect comic and nuance of the world within. The comic is scripted by John Jackson Miller (Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic, The Invincible Iron Man) and drawn by Omar Francia (Star Wars Legacy). This first four-part series explores the exotic and dangerous future Milky Way of Mass Effect, revealing previously unseen locations, aliens, and enemies of this rich science fiction landscape.

  Mac Walters and Omar Francia will be autographing a Comic-con exclusive Mass Effect signing card at the Dark Horse booth (#2615) on July 24th at 4:00pm – 5:00pm at Comic-Con International 2009 in San Diego, CA.

  “Fans of Mass Effect are going to be pleasantly shocked by the events in these comics,” says Mac Walters. “We worked very closely with Dark Horse to make sure this story was built in to the Mass Effect 2 arc, right from the ground up. Reading the series won’t just add to your experience of the universe, it will change the way you look at Mass Effect 2… and beyond.”

  “Those familiar with Mass Effect are aware that it offers one of the deepest and most compelling universes in the history of space adventure,” says Dark Horse President and Publisher Mike Richardson. “We have a long history of successfully adapting properties such as Aliens, Star Wars, and Serenity into comics, and we feel that Mass Effect has tremendous potential with regard to graphic storytelling.”

  The narrative in Mass Effect: Redemption picks up just as Commander Shepard disappears and is left without the support of the crew on the Normandy in the lawless Terminus Systems. Shepard must fight for survival, and will be assisted by close companion, Dr. Liara T’Soni, to come home alive. This story is sure to be a must-read for fans looking to fill the gap between the first and second game’.

  Mass Effect: Redemption issue 1 hits comic shop shelves on January 6, 2010.

  Mass Effect 2 is scheduled for release on Xbox 360 and PC in early 2010.

  EArl

  

  © 2009 Electronic Arts Inc. All rights reserved. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners

  

  

  Tags: Bioware, Dark Horse, Mac Walters, Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, Mass Effect: Redemption, Omar Francia

« Previous Entries