I wonder how much of the negative sentiment around EA would be dissipated if their CEOs and CFOs and such took smaller paychecks. Like, EA are not bad guys. EA don't want to cut jobs. EA want to make games, make profit, keep their people employed and happy. They cancel projects reluctantly. We have stories about how long they let some troubled projects drag on. They close down studios reluctantly and often try to keep people employed by moving them into other departments. But when people hear about the CEO getting tens of millions of dollars, it creates this atmosphere of fear and doubt, where people question whether EA could/should have saved that project using money that went to the people at the top.
It's the ugly side of capitalism. It clouds the purity of motives. It creates a mental image of a fat man with his belt buckle bursting cramming his face with cakes and wheezing, "Oh, dear we have to close down the factory due to a cake shortage and <numbers, numbers, numbers, profit forecasts>." People can't help raising their eyebrows. And they're not really wrong to do it.
It's the ugly side of capitalism. It clouds the purity of motives. It creates a mental image of a fat man with his belt buckle bursting cramming his face with cakes and wheezing, "Oh, dear we have to close down the factory due to a cake shortage and <numbers, numbers, numbers, profit forecasts>." People can't help raising their eyebrows. And they're not really wrong to do it.