Applied on LinkedIn, sent the job poster a message, & he messaged me back about a week later to setup a quick chat. Talked with him about the company, the project, & the team he was trying to build. During this conversation, I asked him about remote work since most of EA's job postings specify something like "Austin, TX (On-site)", but this one was "Austin, TX (Remote)". He told me that it's really up to the managers (him) and he was fine with his team working remotely & distributed. I was not open to relocation so this worked for me.
Next steps were 1) a phone call with Talent Acq., & 2) a ~4 hour panel interview. Panel consisted of:
* technical screen of Array-based LC easy questions
* technical screen of a String-based question & SQL-related questions
* cross-functional interview (how you work with stakeholders)
* interview with the HM's direct report
After going through all of that, I was feeling really positive about the experience & was really excited to work at EA. It took about a week for the recruiter to get back to me and he told me "that the team loved me and thought I'd be a great fit, however, they only want to move forward with an offer if you relocate as they feel like you would be MORE successful in-person with the team".
That's a pretty vague reason so, in my mind, remote work at EA is a bait-and-switch tactic to pressure candidates into relocating, and/or, a disrespectful & indirect way to deny candidates that are looking to work remotely. After taking some time to consider relocation, I emailed my recruiter & cc'd the hiring manager and asked if there was any way we could work around the sudden relocation requirement.
I have yet to hear back. YMMV.