Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson has bagged a massive corporate bonus, after laying off workers responsible for Battlefield 6.
The game industry has become an endless cycle of layoffs over recent years, but as is typical across all companies, these rarely impact the people in charge.
In March, EA laid off an undisclosed amount of employees across all the studios behind Battlefield 6: DICE, Ripple Effect, Criterion Games, and Motive Studio. That’s despite the fact that the shooter surpassed Call Of Duty as the best-selling game of 2025 in the US, and while it has dwindled in popularity since, it still went above and beyond expectations.
At the time, EA said these layoffs were to ‘better align our teams around what matters most to our community’. Although making sure CEO Andrew Wilson gets an even bigger bonus is not something most fans have been crying out for.
As noted in EA’s 10-K report, Wilson received a whopping $38,649,984 (£29,075,030) in bonuses and stock awards in the 2026 financial year. This figure combines stock awards, non-equity incentive plan compensation, and ‘all other compensation’.
In 2025, Wilson received $30,529,835 (£22,966,526) in stock awards and bonuses, so this figure has gone up by $8,120,149 (£6,108,567) in 2026. That also doesn’t include his $1.3 million (£977,954) salary.
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He wasn’t the only EA executive to be handed a massive bonus. Chief financial officer Stuart Canfield got $11.3 million, while president of EA, Laura Miele, got $13.7 million.
It’s also noted by that report that Battlefield 6 met ‘all milestones for a high-quality launch … with positive critical reviews and stable services and gameplay, with interim milestones related to future launches being met’.
That’s no doubt one of the primary reasons for the bonuses, with the well-being of the developers clearly not a consideration.
Success across EA Sports FC, Apex Legends, and Skate, were also highlighted as pillars of the company’s achievements in 2026.
Elsewhere, EA pointed to a ‘bold’ generative AI strategy as a reason for its success in 2026, which achieved ‘goals for transformation, expansion, and efficiency’ across the company. This includes ‘strategic AI partnerships’ and ‘launching a GenAI investment framework’.
If Saudi Arabia’s acquisition of EA, which was recently approved by the EU, goes through, the company will go private – so it will have no obligation to publish these reports in the future. As such, this might be the last glimpse we’ll get into Wilson’s pay packet.
It’s a disheartening look at how company management is rewarded, at the expense of those who actively create the product being sold. However, this issue isn’t isolated to EA, with companies like Take-Two also laying off employees despite massive profits.
Following the buyout, Wilson is set to remain as CEO of EA. He’s been the company’s CEO since 2013.
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