BioWare leak row gathers pace

By Fred Dutton Published 14 October, 2010

Insider calls out EA mole, drops F-bombs.

Another industry insider has joined David Jaffe in lambasting the soon to be laid-off EA art worker who yesterday tore into their employer in an anonymous blog.

The blogger, going under the pseudonym of EA Louse, criticised how BioWare Mythic's Warhammer Online MMO was handled and claimed that EA's forthcoming Star Wars: The Old Republic was "a joke".

Jeff Preston, an art and design specialist who has worked with BioWare Mythic employees in the past, has struck back in his own 1600 word blog, obliquely titled, 'Anonymity is for cowards'. It's quite the read.

"It kills me to see white-collar crybabies bitching about layoffs when people who work far harder, without donut days and comfy chairs get cut every day with no warning and no severance," he explains.

"Bottom line is that working for Activision, Electronic Arts or any other big company is like eating a giant sh*t sandwich at times. It sucks. We eat it or we walk.

"The passive-aggressive sniping from a wall of anonymity is for pussies. Bitches who have this sense of entitlement. The world owes them! Writing posts like that just stirs up a sh*tstorm and enrages the mob. The Mob who really knows f*ck all about it means to work in a studio like this and what goes in to game development, especially on a licensed product."

Preston joins God of War creator David Jaffe in shouting down EA Louse. Jaffe wrote on his own blog yesterday, "What the f*ck is it about making games where it brings out the worst, most immature, most obnoxious sides of certain types of people on a team?"

It's like being back in the playground, no?

Picture of Fred.

About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

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Comments (33) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • LeeroyJenkins #1 2 years ago

    Eurogamer: "Jeff Preston, an art and design specialist who has worked at BioWare Mythic in the past"

    Jeff Preston himself: "I am not, have never been an EA or MYTHIC Employee."

  • darleysam #2 2 years ago

    Again, from the perspective of EA's HR department, when looking for people you can fire if you need to lower your numbers, I'd certainly bump that entitled, bitchy artist who thinks he knows better than everyone else to the top of the list.

  • Spekingur #3 2 years ago

    Why are Jaffe and Preston so defensive though? It's like they have something to hide...

  • Ryboy #4 2 years ago

    Oh god I hope there is more, so much fun!

    They could sell this stuff, it's more entertaining than MW2!

  • Bigglesworth #5 2 years ago

    "What the f*ck is it about making games where it brings out the worst, most immature, most obnoxious sides of certain types of people on a team?"

    Not that surprising when you have teams that consist mostly of graduates, many of whom are in their first job.

  • CaptainQuint #6 2 years ago

    George Lucas hasn't been this frustrated since the fans told him they hate The Phantom Menace.

  • butler` #7 2 years ago

    Preston has nothing to hide. He openly admits being completely biased in the blog post.

    Jeff Hickman, who was at the centre of EA Louse's rant, was Preston's best man... so I've no idea why anyone is giving him any credance.

  • Zombie-Hamster #8 2 years ago

    Anyone else half expecting these guys to start debating who's Dad is the hardest...?

  • RedPanda #9 2 years ago

    Post deleted at 14:31:59 28-01-2012

  • Tetsuo_Shima #10 2 years ago

    These are supposed to be professionals of the games production industry?

  • RedPanda #11 2 years ago

    Post deleted at 14:31:59 28-01-2012

  • Zaiz #12 2 years ago

    This isn't much of a leak. I was expecting something bigger than "MMO which has combat systems like it was made twelve years ago is actually not all that great". The funny bit is watching two guys who matter go berserk because the guy touched a nerve.

  • kingmong #13 2 years ago

    I think I speak for myself when I say: ccould not give a ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

  • knocker #14 2 years ago

    "What the f*ck is it about making games where it brings out the worst, most immature, most obnoxious sides of certain types of people on a team?"

    At a wild guess, I'd say they are merely following your example.

    This one made me laugh too
    "The passive-aggressive sniping from a wall of anonymity is for pussies. Bitches who have this sense of entitlement. "

    He's everso macho for a graphic designer ... not that I'm sayiong graphic designers are "pussies" of course.

  • darth_paul #15 2 years ago

    one thing I dont understand: what has David Jaffe to do with all this??? Is he working over at Mythic? If he's not, shouldnt he keep the f*** shut?
    Edited by darth_paul at 14/10/10 @ 19:30

  • ubergine #16 2 years ago

    Jaffe would write a sweary blog at the opening of a crisps packet.

  • Scopeh #17 2 years ago

    'The mob', is that whats games developers call us gamers? Nice to know they life in the times of Ancient Rome

  • darkmorgado #18 2 years ago

    So then, is this the current argument of the month?

    GOSSIP CHANNEL PLEASE!!!

  • BabyJesus #19 2 years ago

    @Scopeh would that make Kotick Caesar.

    Will Riccitello stab him at E3!?

  • curtlikesmeat #20 2 years ago

    I have to admit I find it mildly entertaining, still, as everyone else has said it's not really massive news - the game itself is looking distinctly average unless they're hiding all the innovative stuff (which seems unlikely). Guild Wars 2 certainly looks like it's going to at least try to break the mould a little.

  • YoshiMcTaggis #21 2 years ago

    Graduates are actually usually pretty accepting of any bullshit you throw at them. It's when they grow a sense of self-respect that you should worry. People who think working in games should be hard just because it's games are dicks.

  • darkmorgado #22 2 years ago

    Graduates are actually usually pretty accepting of any bullshit you throw at them.

    Erm, have you seen the news recently?

  • HermitArcader #23 2 years ago

    Post deleted at 09:17:39 22-12-2011

  • darkmorgado #24 2 years ago


    There's expecting people to be professional, and there's exploiting that professionalism and just sending shit down to the bottom, usually for some low level artist or programmer to sort out because they, unlike their superiors, have nobody to casually delegate it to. When companies go too far and take that for granted, and overload the talent, they do they do themselves no favours as it basically creates a huge "us vs them" environment.

    That could so easily have been written about working in the NHS.
    Edited by darkmorgado at 14/10/10 @ 21:23

  • FortysixterUK #25 2 years ago

    An embittered employee. I can understand his view point, if not relate to it.
    In work there are always the people who make the decisions ( and always seem to stay employed) and those that have the decisions made for them ( and wind up un-employed ).
    It's being fortunate enough to be in the former group and not the latter that can make you embittered or not.
    I've always been in the latter group, and whenever the company has re-located or been canned, I've made sure I've got something out of it in some way,( either physical, moral or both ) it softens the blow. That's my advice to this guy.
    And then get another job.

  • dagas #26 2 years ago

    Making games isn't all fun and games, it's a job.

  • Gromit #27 2 years ago

    These silly little boys don't deserve the attention.

  • gjgjg #28 2 years ago

    Did the marketing dept cook this whole thing up I wonder? The only positive thing that can come from this is that the title gets some attention-these three just come out looking like [%variable text=insert derogatory adj, class=childish:'true'&].

    Basically no one will hire this blogger again, and not too many will jump at the chance to work for Preston and Jaffegaffe after reading their posts either. No, they prob will actually...

  • girth #29 2 years ago

    "What the f*ck is it about making games where it brings out the worst, most immature, most obnoxious sides of certain types of people on a team?"
    Hmm. Maybe you could start by looking at yourself, your own behaviour and your reaction to this. Maybe, just maybe, you might see that you're behaving as immature and as obnoxious as the person you're accusing of behaving that way?

    Then, (and this is a CRAZY suggestion!!), maybe you could try and TALK to your staff and find out why either an individual or several, or many of them feel this way? (I'm putting money on the 'many' option there).

    Oh. And by the way - 'talk' doesn't mean bully, be aggressive, frighten, threaten or any other bully boy tactics.

    Just a thought.

  • witchdrash #30 2 years ago

    And there I was thinking that EA Louse blog was a hoax, suddenly it seems a world more credible. Wouldn't a post from Preston along the lines of "amusing read, shame about lack of reality" have been better and finished off killing this little storm in a teacup?

    Shame that maturity he quotes doesn't spread as far as his own blog

  • DrowJones #31 2 years ago

    @darth_paul: One thing I dont understand: what has darth_paul to do with all this? Is he working over at Mythic? If he's not, shouldnt he keep the f*** shut?

  • Cronan #32 2 years ago

    This can't be the marketing department. The whole episode makes everyone look bad.

  • kongzi #33 2 years ago

    Gotta side with Jaffe and the other people on this one, especially that freelance art guy (which doesn't make him an employee, you just come in, do work, get paid and get out...).

    This whole 'crushed artist beneath the wheels of corporate greed' act is getting really old. It's bullshit. You knew what you got yourself into when you started working on multi-million projects for big publishers. You knew that the game market and industry is cutthroat business and always has been from the very beginning. If you've been around for that long, you would've at least noticed that the nature of the business was changing and stakes were getting higher all around you. You could've gotten out then and chosen principle over cash, but you didn't. You had to stay untill the end hoping for that big severance package to come your way so you could move out ever so comfortably. All the while your fat ass filling a seat on a team that you didn't want to be a part of and that could've been taken by someone that can do exactly what you do but would like the opportunity to gain the experience and financial certainty (limited as it is) that comes with that position and not be a total emo bitch about it?

    Drop the act, maybe some whiny fanboys might be impressed with it, but it's unfair to all those talented artists working (very hard, I might add) in the industry and making great games because they CAN get over their personal bullshit little-artsy-ego's.
    Or maybe some people are actually that naive? Who knows?