EA CEO Andrew Wilson Nets $8M Raise After Battlefield 6 Layoffs
EA CEO Andrew Wilson’s total pay hit $38.6M in FY2026, an $8M raise tied to Battlefield 6’s record launch, months after developers at four studios behind the game were laid off.
Electronic Arts, EA, handed CEO Andrew Wilson a roughly $8 million pay bump for fiscal 2026, tied largely to the record-setting launch of Battlefield 6, just months after the studios that built the game were hit with layoffs.
The pay package
EA’s newly filed 10-K shows Wilson’s total compensation reached $38,649,984, an increase of about $8.1 million over fiscal 2025, while his base salary stayed at $1.3 million.
The “Compensation Actually Paid” to Wilson totaled $77,231,168, and the ratio of CEO-to-median-employee pay landed at 305 to 1.
Battlefield 6 was the catalyst
Battlefield 6 sold over 20 million copies by December 2025, outsold Call of Duty for the first time in franchise history, and became the top-selling game in the U.S. in 2025.
EA’s 10-K also noted the “highly successful” launch directly contributed to the company’s $55 billion sale to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
The layoffs
March cuts affected developers at Criterion, Dice, Ripple Effect, and Motive Studios as EA carried out what it described as a “realignment.” All four studios contributed to Battlefield 6.
Devs at Full Circle, the team behind Skate, were also let go in February, and EA employees across recruitment, customer support, trust and safety, and IT teams were laid off in June.
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C-suite haul
The filing also showed multimillion-dollar compensation for other senior leaders: CFO Stuart Canfield made more than $11.3 million, EA Entertainment president Laura Miele earned $13.7 million, and chief people officer Mala Singh received $8.4 million.
Roughly five people in the C-suite collectively took in around $80 million for a single year.
The buyout backdrop
The pay disclosure lands as EA moves toward its take-private deal with Saudi Arabia’s PIF. Traders watching the arb spread should note that executive severance and change-of-control terms will matter into close.
Options market and stocks to watch
Watch for reactions across gaming and the broader publisher complex:
- EA: watch for continued tightening of the arb spread into the PIF buyout, and any flow around change-of-control language.
- TTWO: watch for read-throughs on AAA publisher margins and how the market prices post-launch cost structures.
- UBSFY: watch for sympathy moves as investors reassess the console publisher group after EA’s take-private.
- RBLX: watch for relative positioning as capital rotates within the interactive entertainment space.
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