“Giving up on EA after 13 years” by Jackson Wagner

Donating my shares to Lightcone Infrastructure, the Good Food Institute, and the Long-Term Future Fund, because EA refuses to make Mirror's Edge 3

Leaning into EA disillusionment: Why I no longer believe in EA

I bought this EA stock almost thirteen years ago:

Leopold Aschenbrenner once said that “people with situational awareness have a lower cost basis in Nvidia than you do”.  I’m not sure if this is exactly what he meant… but close enough, right?

Back in the late 2000s and early 2010s, EA was a great company pumping out great, interesting games:

• Mirror's Edge had a striking art style and showcased a whole new style of first-person parkour gameplay.
• Crysis infamously pushed graphical technology to such extremes that it was like getting a preview of videogame technology 5-10 years in the future.
• Spore was… weird and bad, but its ambition and uniqueness was inspiring.
• The Dead Space games (including the almost weirdly good point-and-shoot Wii spinoff) were pretty creative, and the realism of Battlefield 3 felt like a valuable counterpoint to an increasingly-cartoony Call of Duty series.  Both series felt like they were crafted with a lot of care, despite their big-budget action vibes.
• This was a hidden gem [...]

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Outline:

(00:20) Leaning into EA disillusionment: Why I no longer believe in EA

(02:24) EA is was three radical ideas I want to protect

(03:57) The soul of EA is in trouble

(06:10) EA is about maximization, and maximization is perilous

(09:22) Dont be bycatch

(10:47) EA and the current funding situation

(12:20) Abandoning EA, in favor of doing the most good

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First published:
March 31st, 2026

Source:
https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/ZegHZBvEeQanrGhpY/giving-up-on-ea-after-13-years

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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