EA boss Andrew Wilson sees $20m annual pay cut

Andrew Wilson, boss of FIFA and Battlefield publisher EA, has seen his annual pay reduced to $19.9m, down from $39.2m previously.

The roughly $20m pay cut was signalled last summer, when EA acknowledged "stockholder feedback" from a non-binding but decisive say-on-pay vote.

In a nutshell, stockholders said EA's execs were being handed pay awards from the company money pot that were too large and too frequent. In response, EA said it would make "substantial changes" to the pay of executives.

Now, a fresh company filing spotted by Axios confirms just that. The bulk of Wilson's pay for the financial year ending 31st March comes from a $18m stock grant. The previous year, Wilson was given a similar grant worth $30m.

Additionally, Wilson received a 3.2 percent raise to his base pay, taking it to $1.3m per year - a rise that is "in line with Company-wide base salary merit increases for strong performers".

EA's board justified the raises by noting that the company had kept to its release schedule, kept live services online and grown engagement, boosted employee diversity and received strong employee satisfaction ratings.

Not all was rosy, however - looking at you, Battlefield 2042.

"FIFA 22 was the strongest FIFA ever," EA wrote in its new filing. "[EA] grew Apex Legends into one of the most successful live services in the industry, with monthly active players up more than 35 percent year-over-year." However, some this success was "offset" by Battlefield 2042's performance.