EA CEO Andrew Wilson’s salary continues to increase in 2025, as workers’ pay is steadily decreasing

Electronic Arts stands out as one of the most successful companies in the gaming industry. With annual titles under the EA Sports banner such as FC and Madden NFL, along with a long catalog of shooters, simulators, and RPGs, EA remains one of the most profitable publishers. But that success also highlights a glaring issue: a staggering disparity in earnings across the company’s workforce.

Andrew Wilson, EA’s CEO, received a total of $30.5 million in cash and stock compensation for the 12 months ending March 31, 2025. That marks an increase of $5 million over the previous year, according to Game File’s report based on EA’s most recent proxy filing. In contrast, the median employee salary in 2024 dropped to $117,000, down from $149,000 the year before.

The wage gap within Electronic Arts

The interesting thing within all of this is how EA calculates employee compensation. The company uses the median rather than the average salary, and it has based this on the same “median employee” from 2023 and 2024. EA hasn’t explained why employee pay fell, though it does clarify that both CEO and worker figures include bonuses and stock grants — which can vary year to year.

Here, the reality is undeniable: Wilson’s compensation increased, while the company’s own benchmark employee pay decreased.

Extracted by Game File, this data was used to create a couple of charts comparing Andrew Wilson’s pay to that of his workers since 2018—and the disparity is abysmal.

Reviewing this table, the change between workers is hardly noticeable. That’s why Game File made another table that adjusts the spacing to see these changes... a graphic that, according to its creator, has a height size of 15,000 pixels.

Immediately, this kind of visual exaggeration drives home the broader questions: Is deciding a game’s distribution strategy worth more than developing a game? How much of the recent hike in video game prices is actually going to studios—and how much goes to the top? And finally, how many layoffs could have been avoided this year if CEOs had accepted even a fraction less in pay?

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