I posted a few months ago that it wasn't so bad as I thought. It wasn't on an EK 777 but on a charter 763 where there was 8 across in Y as opposed to the normal 7.
I actually hadn't noticed it during boarding or the flight, it was only when standing up and waiting to get off after landing I noticed there were 4 across the middle section.
However, it could be with the capacity and price pressure from EK, other airlines might fit 10-across in their Y cabin on the 777 to raise the number of pax per flight
I did it recently on the hop from MEL to AKL. Horrible, never again. Compared to Air New Zealand on a 9 across 777 on the way back there was no contest. I'd always pay extra to not be on EK!