People of EA - Petteri

Interested in pursuing a career at EA? Read about Associate Producer, Petteri, and how EA Romania has given him an eye-opening experience to bringing the best video games to market.

Fast Facts:

• Name: Petteri Vottonen
• Title: Associate Producer
• Organization: EA Sports - FIFA
• Location: Bucharest

Background

I received a strong football education through my family. Growing up, I spent most of my days either on the sidelines of a football pitch watching games or playing football at school between classes. I also played football in team sports for eight years until injuries got the best of me. Nowadays I have to settle for more casual matches with my colleagues.

Lucky for me, I’ve also had the pleasure of growing up in a world where you can enjoy football on a virtual pitch. FIFA 97 on the Super Nintendo was one of the first video games I’ve ever played, and Championship Manager were a great way to pass the time and learn some English along the way. But what’s dominating on the virtual fields if you can’t enjoy the big stadiums in real life? Getting to Old Trafford in Manchester and experiencing a Premier League match with an attendance of 76,000 people was always a dream of mine and luckily, I’ve had the privilege of going there several times by now.

Getting Your Start with EA

As I grew up playing games, gaming seemed like a natural career direction to head towards. However, it was never something I planned for or realistically dreamed of for my career. The first job experience I got under my belt was on the retail distribution and marketing side of games until I eventually moved on to a small independent gaming studio. I loved the wide variety of experiences I gathered while studying and they definitely set me up for success when applying for the Producer role at EA. Bucharest was a familiar city for me so I didn’t experience that big of a culture shock coming from Finland. Seeing the sun for more than 5 days a year feels pretty great!

Onboarding to the team was made easy although the sheer size and scale of a game like FIFA can be quite overwhelming in the beginning. It ensured that I was learning new things every day for more than a year! Everyone was very welcoming towards me and more than happy to help with my questions and curiosities.

Working at EA

The industry and, more importantly, the needs of our players are constantly evolving, and we need to evolve with it. At EA SPORTS we’re certainly kept on our toes as FIFA has a yearly development cycle. As one game launches, I’m happy and proud, but at the same time I’m already excited to start working on the next game. As a group we come up with so many cool ideas to work on and it’s quite heartbreaking that we don’t have time to do everything we’d want to.

I love the fact that you get to collaborate and work together with extremely talented individuals from all over the world. At EA you can learn and grow so much as a professional. I have colleagues who have been in the studio for over 15 years and they have so much experience and knowledge to draw from.

EA’s Impact

Joining EA from a smaller gaming studio was an eye-opening experience. It’s humbling to see how we can reach and make an impact in the lives of so many people. Due to the recent global pandemic most of the sports were put on hold and FIFA was one of the things people could turn to for entertainment. Even after the leagues restarted, the matches have had to be played on empty stadiums. To bring back the vibrant atmosphere in the matches watched on TV, we collaborated with the broadcasters to have team-specific crowd noises and chants.

On a personal level, travel opportunities have also taken me to a whole new continent. Getting exposure to so many new cultures and ways of working and interacting has made a great impression on me. Finally, tying back to my football background, experiencing a Champions League quarter-final match between Manchester United and Barcelona with my colleagues has certainly been one of the highlights of my time at EA.

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