Sacred Symbols+, Episode 179: The Happy Canadian Dev
Added 2022-04-09 16:01:03 +0000 UTCMeet Nigel Holt. Nigel is a veteran of Electronic Arts' Vancouver campus, the squadron of teams responsible for the likes of annualized mega-hits like FIFA, UFC, and NHL. In our continuing exploration of what it's like to work in development, the good and the bad (but most importantly the honest), we thought this episode of + would focus on the upside, particularly around a publisher that doesn't have a whole lot of respect with players. Thing is, EA's questionable reputation is largely unearned, while its competitors like Ubisoft and Activision are in far, far worse shape, and deserve far, far more ridicule. According to Mr. Holt, EA is a wonderful place to work, and he's eager to talk about it. We, of course, are eager to listen. So hit play.
Comments
Love Yellow Dog ;)
Nigel
2022-05-03 04:11:24 +0000 UTCGreat episode! As an Ottawa transplant now living in downtown Vancouver, I drive by the EA campus whenever I pick up my girlfriend from her work and always wondered what the culture was like there. Repping Canada positively with your attitude - way to go, Nigel! And shoutout to Port Moody and Yellow Dog Brewing!
Eli Aboukassam
2022-04-29 18:57:22 +0000 UTCBullshit. All bullshit.
jordan allen burton
2022-04-21 00:28:48 +0000 UTCHolt is my surname.
Nigel
2022-04-19 04:55:47 +0000 UTCWe'll definitely do more.
Colin Moriarty
2022-04-17 02:06:37 +0000 UTCThank you!
Colin Moriarty
2022-04-17 02:06:32 +0000 UTCThis was really nice. I heartily agree that we need to hear these stories as well.
Nathan Densley
2022-04-16 14:15:51 +0000 UTCHi Nigel. If you don’t mind me asking what’s your surname so I know which name I’m looking out for? Or if you’re in twitter send me a message, I’m Angry_Kurt on there
Kurt Lewin
2022-04-16 08:47:36 +0000 UTCCongrats Kurt! give me a shout when you arrive. I’m trying to convince my leadership to let me work with the F1 team. 🙂
Nigel
2022-04-16 08:42:03 +0000 UTCYet another great episode. I’ve loved this behind the scenes interview series. Hope there’s more to come!
MarkGrouch
2022-04-15 23:16:55 +0000 UTCThat would be great. Once I’ve got some experience under my belt from working there I’d love to come on. Would be cool to let people know another side of the industry exists in analytics which is a potential career opportunity for them.
Kurt Lewin
2022-04-15 11:28:23 +0000 UTCCongrats on the gig! Would love to have you on the show.
Colin Moriarty
2022-04-14 23:21:21 +0000 UTCYeah, seems like they are improving overall.
Colin Moriarty
2022-04-14 23:21:13 +0000 UTCThis was a great interview. I feel very fortunate that in May I will be joining EA Codemasters in the UK and listening to this interview has made me even more excited to get started. I already know about what the offices and general culture are like and this interview backs it up.
Kurt Lewin
2022-04-14 14:41:33 +0000 UTCGreat episode, outside of BF2043 EA has been doing well compared to the other AAA publishers. It’s not discussed enough how well they did bringing Battlefront 2 back to a good place. Game is awesome now and has a great fan base.
MeatSpin11
2022-04-13 23:23:14 +0000 UTCI'm doing my best. Thank you!
Colin Moriarty
2022-04-13 00:08:31 +0000 UTCI know, they're so nice!
Colin Moriarty
2022-04-13 00:08:25 +0000 UTCIndeed. =)
Colin Moriarty
2022-04-13 00:08:20 +0000 UTCThank you for your support.
Colin Moriarty
2022-04-13 00:08:16 +0000 UTCThank you.
Colin Moriarty
2022-04-13 00:07:13 +0000 UTCIt's a cool perk, for sure.
Colin Moriarty
2022-04-13 00:07:09 +0000 UTCGreat interview Colin! I appreciate your focus on nabbing a positive interview about the industry. Our community is stuck in a cascade effect of negative coverage, and little moments of light like this are the only chance we have of breaking the cycle. Would love to see more interviews like this!
Tonys_Always_Write
2022-04-11 16:06:29 +0000 UTCDamn Canadians, making the rest of the world look like mean angry people all the time. Really enjoyable podcast and EA seems to be the cream of the crop when It comes to big publishers.
Nlindz27
2022-04-11 13:04:19 +0000 UTCI'm gonna echo this request about seeking out a software dev during the PS3 era. Someone must have interesting stories about that.
Joe McPartlin
2022-04-10 07:18:11 +0000 UTCGood to hear Colin interview someone in the gamer battalion.
Drew Agnew
2022-04-10 01:57:46 +0000 UTCReally awesome episode. Love hearing the inside scoop of gaming life. Great job Colin
Andykapped
2022-04-10 00:16:07 +0000 UTCWhat a nice and wholesome guy. Great interview
Drewbuntu
2022-04-09 21:11:31 +0000 UTCHooray for more positive game dev stories! Loved the energy from Nigel and hearing about the intra mural sports at his EA studio. That's such an awesome perk of their office 👏
KendrickLuck
2022-04-09 19:37:12 +0000 UTCThis was a very good episode Colin. I would love to hear more from people who work in the industry. These are so inspiring. After you had Tom from Moore's Law is dead. I think it would be pretty fun to how to find somebody out there who worked on the PlayStation 3. And tell their PlayStation 3 War story about how difficult that thing was to program for. But yes please keep up the content like this. It definitely makes you want to get into the industry.
SammyJay
2022-04-09 17:29:35 +0000 UTC
