We’ve learned an Electronic Arts exec says leaders who enable toxic culture must go, remarks made during Laura Miele’s DICE 2022 keynote.

EA Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Laura Miele made remarks (via IGN) during her DICE 2022 keynote where she largely denounced the ongoing reports of toxic workplace culture in various competitors in the gaming industry, saying leaders who “fall short of basic standards” have to be removed.

“Let’s face it, there have been some rough headlines,” Miele said. “Stories about negligence and lawsuits, all stemming from leaders who failed to uphold standards we’ve come to expect.”

It’s worth noting Miele didn’t actually name any competitors like Activision Blizzard or Ubisoft, nor any leaders, but she said industry leaders have directly benefitted from “destructive behavior.”

Miele did note that no level of success at a company actually matters when the company is rife with toxic culture, going further in saying leaders and CEOs allow this behavior to exist.

“Women have been harassed, bullied, marginalized, held back in their careers, paid less, and much, much less. These are real stories, real human beings, and this is going on in companies in our industry,” Miele said.

She followed up with “Leaders who fall short of basic standards must go.”

The allegations from Activision Blizzard left the majority of competitors like Sony, Nintendo, and even soon-to-be-parent-company Microsoft shocked, with all mentioned posting public condemnations of the allegations.

“If companies can’t figure this out and fix this burning issue, we don’t get to move forward. We don’t get to pass go,” Miele said.

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