Lauren Paone - Software Engineer

What is your educational background (where and what did you study)?

BSE in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in May 2006

What do you do at EA? And what are your main responsibilities?

I'm a software engineer on Madden Gen3 (X360/PS3). I am responsible for implementing features for the upcoming version of Madden. I work with designers and other engineers to see a feature through design, implementation, polishing and bug fixing. I work with the team to make features as cool as possible, but also come up with a maintainable technical implementation.

What do you love about your job?

I love the casual atmosphere at EA. Besides being able to wear whatever you want and come in late, the team has an overall casual atmosphere. We play around a lot, but we also get a lot of work done. Being on the Madden team is a lot of fun. The team is very welcoming and make new members feel like part of the team right away. Everyone has a lot of responsibility so you really feel like you are directly impacting the game. Everyone is always willing to help each other out to get things done, so being on the team is a great way to learn from more experienced engineers. Being on Madden has been a great learning experience.

Why did you choose to work in gaming?

In college, I really liked programming but didn't know what I wanted to do with it when I got out of college. I played a lot of games growing up and was really into the NFL and playing a lot of Madden. When EA presented at my school, I knew I wanted to come work on Madden. I interviewed for a lot of different kinds of jobs, but most of them just sounded boring.

Why did you join EA?

I was a fan of the Madden franchise and NFL football in general so coming to work on Madden is a dream job. I get to talk about football all day and it's considered work!

Describe life at EA?

The attitude at EA is very laid back and fun. As long as your work gets done, no one really bothers you. It can get crazy and stressful at times, but having such a supportive and fun team helps. EA is full of very passionate people with everyone working towards the common goal of creating the best game possible. There's a lot of teamwork involved and people are always willing to help each other out.

What are your favorite games/entertainment, both EA and non-EA?

Zelda, Mario, Guitar Hero, Tiger, Zuma, I guess it's a little weird to say Madden now...