Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson received a $38.7 million compensation package for the 2026 fiscal year, despite the company laying off its Battlefield 6 developers during the same period. According to a 10-K report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Wilson’s compensation consisted of a base salary of $1.3 million, stock awards worth over $28 million, a cash bonus of $6.5 million, and other benefits, including personal security services and private jet travel. This figure represents an increase of approximately $8 million from $30.5 million in 2025.
Wilson wasn’t alone—other EA executives also received generous packages. EA Entertainment President Laura Miele received $13.7 million, CFO Stuart Canfield $11.3 million, General Counsel Jacob Schatz $8.4 million, and Chief Human Resources Officer Mala Singh $8.3 million. The board of directors attributed these high payouts to the achievement of key business goals: Battlefield 6 “met all milestones for a strong launch,” EA Sports FC and FC Mobile exceeded retention plans, and Skate exceeded player acquisition expectations in Early Access. The report also noted the implementation of a “bold generative AI strategy”—the company entered into key partnerships and launched an investment vehicle to develop the technology.
On the flip side of this success, in March 2026, EA laid off staff at all four studios comprising Battlefield Studios: DICE, Criterion Games, Ripple Effect Studios, and Motive Studio. The company didn’t disclose the exact number of layoffs—various sources cite “around 300 people,” but there’s no official figure. EA stated that these are “selective changes within the Battlefield organization to better align teams around what matters most to the community.” That sounds appropriate—until you consider the 305:1 ratio. Wilson’s compensation is exactly that many times higher than the median salary of an EA employee, which is $126,612 per year.
There’s hardly another aspect that won’t change in the near future. Because the $55 billion acquisition of EA by a consortium of investors led by the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) has already been approved by the European Union. The deal, which will be the largest leveraged buyout in history, will receive final approval on July 30. After this, EA will become a private company and will no longer be required to publish 10-K reports. Those very documents, which today allow us to see the ratio between executive bonuses and layoffs among rank-and-file developers, will disappear from public access.
The community reaction, as expected, was predictably negative. The coincidence of record bonuses and layoffs at the studios that created the company’s biggest hit leaves a mixed impression. Therefore, we will no longer see public reports of this level of detail—we can only study what we have now.
