Citizendia

"EA" redirects here. For Electronic Arts' sports label, see EA Sports. EA Sports is a brand name used by Electronic Arts since 1993 to distribute games based on Sports Formerly a gimmick inside Electronic Arts sports For other uses, see EA (disambiguation).
Electronic Arts, Inc
TypePublic (NASDAQ: ERTS)
Founded1982
HeadquartersFlag of the United States Redwood City, California, USA
Key peopleJohn Riccitiello, CEO
Frank Gibeau, President, EA Games Label
Peter Moore, President, EA SPORTS
Kathy Vrabeck, President, EA Casual Entertainment
Nancy Smith, President, The Sims Label
Larry Probst, chairman of the board and former CEO (1991-2007)
Trip Hawkins, founder and former CEO (1982-1991)
IndustryInteractive entertainment
Revenue▲$4. A public company usually refers to a company that is permitted to offer its registered securities ( Stock, bonds, etc The NASDAQ (acronym of National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) is an American Stock exchange. Redwood City is a suburb located on the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area of California California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the John Riccitiello is the CEO of Electronic Arts (EA He received his B Peter Moore may refer to Peter Moore (chemist (born 1939 professor at Yale University Peter Moore (business (born 1955 former SOA Larry Probst (Lawrence F Probst III was previously the CEO of the world's largest Video game publisher, Electronic Arts (EA William M 'Trip' Hawkins III (born December 28, 1953) is a Silicon Valley American Entrepreneur and founder of Electronic Arts For other uses of this term see Industry (disambiguation An industry (from Latin industrius, "diligent industrious" The video game industry (formally referred to as Interactive entertainment) is the economic sector involved with the development, Marketing In business revenue or revenues is Income that a company receives from its normal business activities usually from the sale of goods and services 02 billion USD (2008)[1]
Net income▲$339 million USD (2008)
Employees7,900 (2007)[2]
Websitewww.ea.com

Electronic Arts (EA) (NASDAQ: ERTS) is an American developer, marketer, publisher, and distributor of computer and video games. The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been Net income is equal to the Income that a firm has after subtracting costs and Expenses from the total Revenue. The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been Employment is a Contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. A website (alternatively web site or Web site, a back-construction from the Proper noun World Wide Web) is a collection of Web pages The NASDAQ (acronym of National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) is an American Stock exchange. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A video game developer is a software developer (a business or an individual that creates Video games A developer may specialize in a certain video A video game publisher is a company that publishes Video games that they have either developed internally or have had developed by a Video game developer A video game is a Game that involves interaction with a User interface to generate visual feedback on a video device. Established in 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers responsible for their games. William M 'Trip' Hawkins III (born December 28, 1953) is a Silicon Valley American Entrepreneur and founder of Electronic Arts A home computer was a class of Personal computer entering the market in 1977 and becoming common during the 1980s Originally, EA was a home computing game publisher. In the late 1980s, the company began developing games in-house and supported consoles by the early 1990s. EA later grew via acquisition of several successful developers. By the early 2000s, EA had become one of the world's largest third-party publishers. In May 2008, the company reported net annual revenue of US$4. The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been 02 billion in fiscal year 2008. [3] Currently, EA's most successful products are sports games published under their EA Sports label, games based on popular movie licenses and games from long-running franchises like Need for Speed, Medal of Honor, The Sims, Command & Conquer and the later games in the Burnout series. EA Sports is a brand name used by Electronic Arts since 1993 to distribute games based on Sports Formerly a gimmick inside Electronic Arts sports Need For Speed ( NFS) is a series of racing Video games developed by Canadian based company EA Black Box Plot The Medal of Honor series puts the player in the boots of an Allied combatant during World War II, with weaponry appropriate to the The Sims is a strategic life-simulation computer game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. Command & Conquer (often abbreviated as C&C or CNC) is a Video game franchise, mostly of the Burnout, also known as Shiny Red Car (working title The GameCube version was released in North America on April 29[[ 002]] and Europe on May 3

Contents

History

Electronic Arts' original corporate logo, 1982–1999.
Electronic Arts' original corporate logo, 1982–1999.

1982-1991 - Seeing Farther: The Emergence of an Industry

In February 1982, Trip Hawkins arranged a meeting with Don Valentine of Sequoia Capital[4] to discuss financing his new venture, Amazin' Software. Donald T "Don" Valentine is an influential Venture capitalist who concentrates mainly on technology companies in the United States. Sequoia Capital is a Venture capital firm founded by Don Valentine in 1972 Valentine encouraged Hawkins to leave Apple Inc., in which Hawkins served as Director of Product Marketing, and allowed Hawkins use of Sequoia Capital's spare office space to start the company. Apple Inc, ( formerly Apple Computer Inc, is an American Multinational corporation with a focus on designing and manufacturing Consumer electronics Sequoia Capital is a Venture capital firm founded by Don Valentine in 1972 On May 28, 1982, Trip Hawkins incorporated and established the company with a personal investment of an estimated US$200,000. Events 585 BC - A Solar eclipse occurs as predicted by Greek philosopher and scientist Thales, while Alyattes is battling Year 1982 ( MCMLXXXII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar) The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been Seven months later in December 1982, Hawkins secured US$2 million of venture capital from Sequoia Capital, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and Sevin Rosen Funds. Venture capital (also known as VC or Venture) is a type of Private equity capital typically provided to immature high-potential growth companies Sequoia Capital is a Venture capital firm founded by Don Valentine in 1972 Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB is a Venture capital firm located on Sand Hill Road in Silicon Valley. Sevin Rosen Funds (SRF is a Venture capital firm that was established in 1980 by L

For more than seven months, Hawkins had refined his Electronic Arts business plan. A business plan is a formal statement of a set of business goals the reasons why they are believed attainable and the plan for reaching those goals With aid from his first employee (whom he worked in marketing with at Apple), Rich Melmon, the original plan was written, mostly by Hawkins, on an Apple II in Sequoia Capital's office in August 1982. During that time, Hawkins also employed two of his former staff from Apple, Dave Evans and Pat Marriott, as producers. David or Dave Evans may refer to Sir David Evans (RAF officer, Air Chief Marshal/Senior Commander in the Royal Air Force Dave Evans A game producer is the person in charge of overseeing development of a Video game. The business plan was again refined in September and reissued on October 8, 1982. Events 314 - Roman Emperor Licinius is defeated by his colleague Constantine I at the Battle of Cibalae, and loses Year 1982 ( MCMLXXXII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar)

Between September and November, employee headcount rose to 11, including Tim Mott, Bing Gordon, David Maynard, and Steve Hayes. David Maynard is a Computer programmer and computer game programmer, who was a founding member of Electronic Arts. Having outgrown the office space provided by Sequoia Capital, the company relocated to a San Mateo office that overlooked the San Francisco Airport landing path. San Mateo ( "san muh-TAY-o") is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States San Francisco International Airport is a major international Airport located south of downtown San Francisco, California, United States adjacent to the Headcount rose rapidly in 1983, including Don Daglow, Richard Hilleman, Stewart Bonn, David Gardner, and Nancy Fong. Year 1983 ( MCMLXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar) Don Daglow (born circa 1953 is an American Computer game and Video game designer, programmer and producer. Richard Hilleman is an American Computer game and Video game producer best known for his work creating the original Madden Football game for

Early Sales strategy

Hawkins was determined to sell directly to buyers. Combined with the fact that Hawkins was pioneering new game brands, this made sales growth more challenging. Retailers wanted to buy known brands from existing distribution partners. Despite this, revenue was $5 million in the first year and $11 million the next. Former CEO Larry Probst arrived as VP of Sales in late 1984 and helped the company sustain growth into $18 million in its third full year. Larry Probst (Lawrence F Probst III was previously the CEO of the world's largest Video game publisher, Electronic Arts (EA Teaming with the existing sales staff that included Nancy Smith, David Klein, and David Gardner, Probst built the largest sales force of any American game publisher. This policy of dealing directly with retailers gave EA higher margins and better market awareness, key advantages the company would leverage to leapfrog its early competitors.

In December of 1986 David Gardner and Mark Lewis moved to the UK to open a European headquarters. Up until that point publishing of Electronic Arts Games, and the conversion of many of their games to compact cassette versions in Europe was handled by Ariolasoft. The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a Magnetic tape sound Ariolasoft was a German computer game developer, publisher and distributor A small company in Wales was already called Electronic Arts, and until 1997 Electronic Arts in the UK was known legally as EOA, a name derived from its square/circle/triangle logo. The Welsh company ceased trading in 1997 and Electronic Arts acquired the rights to the name.

Name change

Some of the early employees of the company disliked the Amazin' Software name that Hawkins had originally chosen when he incorporated the company. While at Apple, Hawkins had enjoyed company offsite meetings at Pajaro Dunes and organized such a planning offsite for EA in October 1982. Pajaro is a Census-designated place (CDP in Monterey County, California, United States. Following a long business day at the offsite, the dozen employees and advisers who were present agreed that they would stay up that night and see if they could agree unanimously on a new name for the company.

Hawkins had developed the ideas of treating software as an art form and calling the developers, "software artists. " Hence, the latest version of the business plan had suggested the name "SoftArt". However, Hawkins and Melmon knew the founders of Software Arts, the creators of VisiCalc, and thought their permission should be obtained. Software Arts was a software company founded by Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston in 1979 to develop VisiCalc, which was published by a separate VisiCalc was the first Spreadsheet program available for personal computers But Dan Bricklin did not want the name used because it sounded too similar (perhaps "confusingly similar") to Software Arts. Daniel S Bricklin (born 16 July 1951) is the co-creator with Bob Frankston, of the VisiCalc Spreadsheet program In Trademark Law, confusing similarity is a test used during the examination process to determine whether a trademark conflicts with another earlier mark and However, the name concept was liked by all the attendees. Hawkins had also recently read a best-selling book about the film studio, United Artists, and liked the reputation that company had created. This article is about the film studio Previously it was affiliated with a cinema chain bearing its name now owned by Regal Entertainment Group. Early advisers Andy Berlin, Jeff Goodby, and Rich Silverstein (who would soon form their own ad agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners) were also fans of that approach, and the discussion was led by Hawkins and Berlin. Hawkins said everyone had a vote but they would lose it if they went to sleep.

Hawkins liked the word "electronic", and various employees had considered the phrases "Electronic Artists" and "Electronic Arts". Other candidates included Gordon's suggestion of "Blue Light", a reference from the movie "Tron".

When Gordon and others pushed for "Electronic Artists", in tribute to the film company United Artists, Steve Hayes opposed, saying, "We're not the artists, they are. This article is about the film studio Previously it was affiliated with a cinema chain bearing its name now owned by Regal Entertainment Group. . . " meaning that the developers whose games EA would publish were the artists. This statement from Hayes immediately tilted sentiment towards Electronic Arts and the name was unanimously endorsed.

Sharing credit

Pinball Construction Set was an enormous hit for EA. The original version for the Apple II by Bill Budge was quickly ported to other popular home systems of the era.
Pinball Construction Set was an enormous hit for EA. Pinball Construction Set ( PCS) is a Computer game by Bill Budge published by Electronic Arts. The original version for the Apple II by Bill Budge was quickly ported to other popular home systems of the era. Bill Budge (born c 1954 is a Computer game programmer and designer. See also Software portability In Computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created A home computer was a class of Personal computer entering the market in 1977 and becoming common during the 1980s

A novel approach to giving credit to its developers was one of EA's trademarks in its early days. This characterization was even further reinforced with EA's packaging of most of their games in the "album co pioneered by EA because Hawkins thought that a record album style would both save costs and convey an artistic feeling. EA routinely referred to their developers as "artists" and gave them photo credits in their games and numerous full-page magazine ads. Magazines, periodicals or serials are Publications generally published on a regular schedule containing a variety of articles, generally EA also shared lavish profits with their developers, which added to their industry appeal. Because of this novel treatment, EA was able to easily attract the best developers.

The square "album cover" boxes (such as the covers for 1983's M.U.L.E. and Pinball Construction Set) were a popular packaging concept by Electronic Arts, which wanted to represent their developers as "rock stars". MULE is a seminal multiplayer Video game written in 1983 by Dani Bunten of Ozark Softscape. Pinball Construction Set ( PCS) is a Computer game by Bill Budge published by Electronic Arts. A video game developer is a software developer (a business or an individual that creates Video games A developer may specialize in a certain video Rock music is a genre of Popular music often though not necessarily employing Electric guitar, Bass guitar, and Drums.

Hawkins exits

After a very successful run on home computers, Electronic Arts later branched out and produced console games as well. Eventually Trip Hawkins left EA to found the now defunct 3DO company. The 3DO Company (formerly THDO on the NASDAQ stock exchange also known as 3DO, was a Video game console developer and third-party game

1991-2007 - The Probst Years: Explosive Growth and Industry Maturation

EA is currently headquartered in the Redwood Shores neighborhood of Redwood City, California. Redwood Shores is an affluent waterfront neighborhood on the San Francisco Peninsula in California. Redwood City is a suburb located on the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area of California California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. Following the departure of Trip Hawkins, Larry Probst took over the reins and led the company to its current size and stature. Larry Probst (Lawrence F Probst III was previously the CEO of the world's largest Video game publisher, Electronic Arts (EA

Welcome sign at EA headquarters in Redwood Shores
Welcome sign at EA headquarters in Redwood Shores

Probst considered himself a man of principle and has refused to follow the M-rated example set by Take Two Interactive, whose violent Grand Theft Auto franchise became the dominant brand in many key demographics from 2000 through 2003. Take-Two Interactive Software Inc ( is an American publisher, developer, and distributor of Video games and video game Peripherals As a result, Probst was heavily criticized by Wall Street analysts, who believe that because of this policy, EA's stock price is lower than it should be. In late March 2005, Electronic Arts issued its first ever mid-quarter profit warning blaming hardware shortages and lower than expected fourth quarter sales.

Not that M-rated games are new to EA: in 1999 EA approved its first M-rated game, System Shock II for the PC. Year 1999 ( MCMXCIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar) System Shock 2 (commonly abbreviated SS2 or Shock 2) is a science-fiction horror -themed Video game Probst later changed his overall stance on M-rated games, and now EA has several titles that compete in the M-rated, adult game arena.

In 2004, EA made a multimillion dollar donation to fund the development of game production curriculum at the University of Southern California's Interactive Media Division. The 's School of Cinematic Arts 's Interactive Media Division first accepted students in. In addition to the funds, EA staff members have been actively teaching and lecturing at the school.

On February 1, 2006, Electronic Arts announced that it would cut worldwide staff by 5 percent. Events 1327 - Teenaged Edward III is crowned King of England, but the country is ruled by his mother Queen Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. [5]

On June 20, 2006 EA purchased Mythic Entertainment, currently working on Warhammer Online. Events 451 - Battle of Chalons: Flavius Aetius ' defeats Attila the Hun. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Mythic Entertainment (formerly EA Mythic Inc and Interworld Productions) is a computer game developer in Fairfax Virginia which is most Warhammer Online Age of Reckoning (officially abbreviated as WAR) is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game based on Games Workshop

Exclusive licenses

After Sega's ESPN NFL 2K5 successfully grabbed market share away from EA's dominant Madden NFL series during the 2004 holiday season, EA responded by making several large sports licensing deals which include an exclusive agreement with the NFL, and in January 2005, a 15-year deal with ESPN, much as with Take Two Interactive's exclusive licensing deal with baseball's Major League. ESPN NFL 2K (originally NFL 2K) was an American football Video game series developed by Visual Concepts The National Football League ( NFL) is the largest professional American football league. ESPN, originally an acronym for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, is an American Cable television network dedicated to [6] The ESPN deal gave EA exclusive first rights to all ESPN content for sports simulation games. On April 11, 2005, EA announced a similar, 6-year licensing deal with the Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC) for exclusive rights to college football content. Events 491 - Flavius Anastasius becomes Byzantine Emperor, with the name of Anastasius I. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC is an American Collegiate trademark licensing and marketing company College football is American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, Colleges and military academies [7]

Development strategy

Much of EA's success, both in terms of sales and with regards to its stock market valuation, is due to its strategy of platform-agnostic development and the creation of strong multi-year franchises. EA was the first publisher to release yearly updates of its sports franchises—Madden, FIFA, NHL, NBA Live, Tiger Woods, etc. —with updated player rosters and small graphical and gameplay tweaks. [8] Recognizing the risk of franchise fatigue among consumers, EA announced in 2006 that it would concentrate more of its effort on creating new original intellectual property. Intellectual property ( IP) is a legal field that refers to creations of the mind such as musical literary and artistic works inventions and symbols names [9]

2007-: Riccitiello Takes Over; The Emergence of the City State Label Model

In February 2007, Probst stepped down from the CEO job while remaining on the Board of Directors. His handpicked successor is John Riccitiello, who had worked at EA for several years previously, departed for a while, and then returned. John Riccitiello is the CEO of Electronic Arts (EA He received his B Riccitiello previously worked for Elevation Partners, Sara Lee and Pepsico. Elevation Partners is an American Private equity firm that invests in Intellectual property and media and entertainment companies PepsiCo Incorporated (Short for Pepsi Company ( is a large conglomerate with interests in manufacturing marketing and selling a wide variety of carbonated and non- carbonated

Also, in 2007, EA announced that it would be bringing some of its major titles (such as Madden NFL 08, Need for Speed: Carbon, etc. Madden NFL 08 is the 2008 edition of the American football Video game series published by EA Sports and developed by EA Tiburon Need for Speed Carbon, also known as NFS Carbon or NFSC is an Electronic Arts video game belonging to the Need ) to the Macintosh. Macintosh, commonly nicknamed Mac is a Brand name which covers several lines of Personal computers designed developed and marketed by Apple Inc EA has released Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Need for Speed Carbon, Battlefield 2142 and Command & Conquer: Tiberium Wars for the Mac. Need for Speed Carbon, also known as NFS Carbon or NFSC is an Electronic Arts video game belonging to the Need Battlefield 2142 is a First-person shooter computer game developed by Digital Illusions CE and is the fourth game in the ''Battlefield'' All of the new games have been developed for the Macintosh using Cider, a technology developed by TransGaming that enables Intel-based Macs to run Windows games inside a translation layer running on Mac OS X. They are not playable on PowerPC-based Macs. [10]

In October 2007, EA purchased Super Computer International, a long standing industry provider of game server hosting for development studios, who were currently developing the new PlayLinc software. Super Computer International is a US software company a developer of Playlinc online game browsing and messaging platform Playlinc was a game browsing and messaging platform that enabled multi-player game play voice chat and game management A week later they then purchased VG Holding Corp, the parent company of BioWare and Pandemic Studios. BioWare Corp is a Canadian electronic entertainment company founded in February 1995 by Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk, and Augustine Yip. Pandemic Studios is a Video game developer with offices in Los Angeles, California and Brisbane, Australia. [11] In November 2007, EA signed an agreement with GigaMedia for the online game, NBA Street Online. GigaMedia Limited ( is a major provider of online entertainment software and services

At the 2008 Design Innovate Communicate Entertain (D. I. C. E. ) Summit, Riccitiello gave a speech in which he admitted that EA's earlier strategy of buying and assimilating developers into the EA corporation was wrong. Citing Bullfrog Studios as an example of how EA's takeover had made the studio devoid of its star creative talent, Riccitiello acknowledge that EA was wrong in its way of handling and managing earlier creative teams it took control of. He then went on to state that he and EA have since learned from this mistake and allow independent developers they buy to remain autonomous to a large extent. Pointing to Maxis and recently purchased Bioware as examples of the new EA, these studios are allowed to keep their culture with little interference from EA. Whilst this gives the executives less control, it keeps the creatives happy and as a result, allow them to produce better work. [12][13] Bioware's first game published under EA, Mass Effect, was released to critical and commercial success. [14] However, it was developed and initially released with Microsoft as the publisher.

It was revealed in February 2008 that Electronic Arts had made a takeover bid for rival game company Take Two. Take-Two Interactive Software Inc ( is an American publisher, developer, and distributor of Video games and video game Peripherals After its initial offer of $25 per share, all cash stock transaction offer was rejected by the Take Two board, EA revised it to $26 per share, a 64% premium over the previous day's closing price and made the offer known to the public. [15] Rumours had been floating around the internet prior to the offer about Take Two possibly being bought over by a bigger company, albeit with Viacom as the potential bidder. Viacom ( ( short for " Vi deo & A udio Com munications" is an American Media conglomerate with various worldwide interests [16][17]

In May 2008, EA announced that it will purchase the assets of Hands-On Mobile Korea, a South Korean mobile game developer and publisher. The company will become EA Mobile Korea. [18]

Label architecture & studios

In June 2007, new CEO John Riccitiello announced that EA would reorganize itself into four labels, each with responsibility for its own product development and publishing (the city-state model). The goal of the reorganization was to empower the labels to operate more autonomously, streamline decision-making, increase creativity and quality, and get games into the market faster. [19]This reorganization came after years of consolidation and acquisition by EA of smaller studios, which some in the industry blamed for a decrease in quality of EA titles. In 2008, at the DICE Summit, Riccitiello called the earlier approach of "buy and assimilate" a mistake, often stripping smaller studios of its creative talent. Riccitiello said that the city-state model allows independent developers to remain autonomous to a large extent, and cited Maxis and Bioware as examples of studios thriving under the new structure. [20][21] Bioware's first game published under EA, Mass Effect, was released to critical and commercial success. [22]

The following are the four Electronic Arts labels, with the studios that fall under each label [23]

Criticism

Studio acquisition and management practices

See also: List of acquisitions by Electronic Arts

During its period of fastest growth, EA was often criticized for buying smaller development studios primarily for their intellectual property assets, and then produce drastically changed games of their franchises. This is a list of acquisitions by Electronic Arts. Electronic Arts is a company that is an American developer, marketer publisher, and distributor of For example, Origin-produced Ultima VIII: Pagan and Ultima IX: Ascension were developed quickly under EA's ownership, over the protests of Ultima creator Richard Garriott,[24] and these two are considered by many[25] as not up to the standard of the rest of the series. Origin Systems Inc (sometimes abbreviated as OSI) was a Computer game developer based in Austin Texas that was active from 1983 to Ultima VIII Pagan is a Video game, the eighth part of the Computer role-playing game series Ultima. Ultima IX Ascension ( 1999) is the ninth and final part of the Computer role-playing game series Ultima. Richard Allen Garriott (born July 4, 1961) also known as Lord British in Ultima and General British [26][27]

In early 2008, current CEO John Riccitiello stated that this practice by EA was wrong and that the company now gives acquired studios greater autonomy without "meddling" in their corporate culture. [28]

EA has also been criticized for shutting down its acquired studios after a poorly performing game. [29] [30][31] The historical pattern of poor sales and ratings of the first game shipped after acquisition suggests EA's control and direction as being primarily responsible for the game's failure rather than the studio. Magic Carpet 2 was rushed to completion over the objections of designer Peter Molyneux and it shipped during the holiday season with several major bugs. Magic Carpet 2 The Netherworlds is a 1995 Computer game, the sequel to the Magic Carpet. Peter Douglas Molyneux OBE (born 5 May 1959 in Guildford, Surrey, UK) is a Computer game designer Studios such as Origin, Westwood Studios, and Bullfrog had previously produced games attracting a significant fanbase, and when they were closed down many top designers and programmers refused to stay with EA and formed rival studios. Westwood Studios ( 1985 - 2003) was a computer and Video game developer, founded in 1985 as Westwood Associates by Brett Sperry Bullfrog Productions was a UK computer game developer that was founded in 1987 by Les Edgar and Peter Molyneux. Many fans also became annoyed that their favourite developers were closed down, but some developers, for example the EALA studio, have stated that they try to carry on the legacy of the old studio, in this case Westwood Studios. EA has also received harsh fire from labor groups for its dismissals of large groups of employees during the closure of a studio (see below). Such was the case with the game GoldenEye: Rogue Agent. GoldenEye Rogue Agent is a James Bond Video game developed and published by Electronic Arts. [32]

EA has also been criticized for other aggressive business methods like the acquisition of 19. 9 percent of shares of its competitor Ubisoft in what was called a "hostile act" by Ubisoft CEO, Yves Guillemot. Ubisoft Entertainment (formerly Ubi Soft) ( is a French computer and Video game publisher and developer with headquarters in [33] However, this has not materialized into anything hostile and Guillemot later indicated that a merger with EA was a possibility. [34]

Employment policy

In 2004, Electronic Arts was criticized for employees working extraordinarily long hours—up to 100 hours per week— and not just at "crunch" times leading up to the scheduled releases of products. The publication of the EA Spouse blog, with criticisms such as "The current mandatory hours are 9 a. EA Spouse is the name commonly used to refer to a Blog post originally made on November 11, 2004 to LiveJournal. m. to 10 p. m. —seven days a week—with the occasional Saturday evening off for good behaviour (at 6:30 p. m. )". [35] The company has since settled a class action lawsuit brought by game artists to compensate for "unpaid overtime". In Law, a class action or a representative action is a form of Lawsuit where a large group of people collectively bring a claim to court A game artist is an Artist who creates art for one or more types of Games Game artists are responsible for all of the aspects of Game development that call [36] The class was awarded $15. 6 million. As a result, many of the lower-level developers (artists, programmers, producers, and designers) are now working at an hourly rate. A similar suit brought by programmers was settled for $14. A game programmer is a Programmer who primarily develops Video games or related Software (such as Game development tools. 9 million. [37]

Since these criticisms first aired, it's been reported that EA has taken steps to positively address "work-life balance" concerns by focusing on long-term project planning, compensation, and communication with employees. These efforts accelerated with the arrival of John Riccitiello as CEO in February 2007. In December 2007, an internal EA employee survey showed a 13% increase in employee morale and a 21% jump in management recognition over a three year period. [38]

In May 2008, 'EA_Spouse' blog author Erin Hoffman, speaking to videogame industry news site Gamasutra, stated that EA has made significant progress. Hoffman said that "I think EA is tremendously reformed, having made some real strong efforts to get the right people into their human resources department," and "I've been hearing from people who have gotten overtime pay there and I think that makes a great deal of difference. In fact, I've actually recommended to a few people I know to apply for jobs there. "[39]

Game quality

For 2006, the games review aggregation site Metacritic gives the average of EA games as 72. Metacritic is a Website that collates reviews of music Albums games, movies, TV shows, DVDs and Books. 0 (out of 100); 2. 5 points behind Nintendo (74. is a Multinational corporation headquartered in Kyoto Japan founded on 5) but ahead of the other first-party publishers Microsoft (71. 6) and Sony (71. 2). The closest third-party publisher is Take 2 (publishing as 2K Games and Rockstar) at 70. Take-Two Interactive Software Inc ( is an American publisher, developer, and distributor of Video games and video game Peripherals 3. The remaining top 10[40] publishers (Sega, Konami, THQ, Ubisoft, Activision) all rate in the mid 60's. is a multinational Video game Software and Hardware development company and a former Home computer () is a leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys Trading cards, Anime, Tokusatsu, Slot machines THQ Inc ( Toy Headquarters) is a global American developer and publisher of Video games. Ubisoft Entertainment (formerly Ubi Soft) ( is a French computer and Video game publisher and developer with headquarters in Activision Inc is an American Video game developer and publisher. Since 2005 EA has published three games Battlefield 2, Crysis and Rock Band that received Universal Acclaim (Metacritic score 90 or greater).

However, EA's aggregate review performance has shown a downward trend in quality over recent years and is expected to affect market shares during competitive seasons. Pacific Crest Securities analyst Evan Wilson has said, "Poor reviews and quality are beginning to tarnish the EA brand. According to our ongoing survey of GameRankings. com aggregated review data, Electronic Arts' overall game quality continues to fall. . . Although market share has not declined dramatically to date, in years such as 2007, which promises to have tremendous competition, it seems likely if quality does not improve. "[41][42]

EA has also received criticism for developing games that lack innovation vis-à-vis the number of gaming titles produced under the EA brand that show a history of yearly updates, particularly in their sporting franchises. These typically retail as new games at full market price and feature only updated team rosters in addition to incremental changes to game mechanics, the user interface, and graphics. One critique compared EA to companies like Ubisoft and concluded that EA's innovation in new and old IPs, "Crawls along at a snail's pace. ",[43] while even the company's own CEO, John Riccitiello, acknowledged the lack of innovation seen in the industry generally, saying, "We're boring people to death and making games that are harder and harder to play. For the most part, the industry has been rinse-and-repeat. There's been lots of product that looked like last year's product, that looked a lot like the year before. " EA has announced that it is turning its attention to creating new game IPs in order to stem this trend, with recently accquired and critically acclaimed studios Bioware and Pandemic would be contributing to this process. . [44][45]

Editing of Wikipedia

On August 15, 2007 it was revealed that IP addresses registered to EA had made changes to its Wikipedia entry favoring EA. Events 778 - The Battle of Roncevaux Pass, at which Roland is killed An Internet Protocol ( IP) address is a numerical identification ( Logical address) that is assigned to devices participating in a Computer network [46][47] The changes made included downplaying the importance of the founder of EA, Trip Hawkins, as well as playing up the importance of former CEO, Larry Probst. William M 'Trip' Hawkins III (born December 28, 1953) is a Silicon Valley American Entrepreneur and founder of Electronic Arts Larry Probst (Lawrence F Probst III was previously the CEO of the world's largest Video game publisher, Electronic Arts (EA [46] Other changes included attempts to remove information regarding the infamous EA Spouse scandal, which involved the poor treatment of workers. EA Spouse is the name commonly used to refer to a Blog post originally made on November 11, 2004 to LiveJournal. In addition, several paragraphs under criticism were removed completely. [46]

EA's response was that "Many companies routinely post updates on websites like Wikipedia to ensure accuracy of their own corporate information. "[48] It did not, however, address the specifics of the changes.


Anti-trust Lawsuit

On June 11, 2008 it was announced that EA Sports is being sued for breaking United States Anti-Trust laws. Events 1184 BC - Trojan War: Troy is sacked and burned according to the calculations of Eratosthenes. This was because EA Sports signed exclusive contracts with the NFL Players Association, the NCAA and Arena Football League, to use players' names, likenesses and team logos. This keeps other companies from being able to sign the same agreements. EA sports then raised the prices of these games. [1]

Notable games published

See also: List of Electronic Arts games
By purchasing development studio Maxis, EA obtained the rights to publish the lucrative SimCity series and the spin-off game The Sims. It went on to develop its sequel The Sims 2.
By purchasing development studio Maxis, EA obtained the rights to publish the lucrative SimCity series and the spin-off game The Sims. This is a list of Video games published and/or developed by Electronic Arts. A video game developer is a software developer (a business or an individual that creates Video games A developer may specialize in a certain video Maxis Software is an American company that was founded as a Video game developer and is now a brand name of Electronic Arts (EA SimCity is a city-building simulation game, first released in 1989 and designed by Will Wright. The Sims is a strategic life-simulation computer game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. It went on to develop its sequel The Sims 2. The Sims 2 is a strategic life simulation Computer game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic [49]

Some of the most notable and popular games of video game history have been published by EA, and many of these are listed below. Though EA published these titles, they did not always develop them; some were developed by independent game development studios. EA developed their first game in 1987.

Electronic Arts also published a number of non-game titles. Pinball Construction Set ( PCS) is a Computer game by Bill Budge published by Electronic Arts. Bill Budge (born c 1954 is a Computer game programmer and designer. Archon The Light and the Dark is a Computer game developed by Free Fall Associates and distributed by Electronic Arts. Archon II Adept is the Sequel to the Computer game Archon available for numerous platforms in 1984 developed by Free Fall Associates was a computer game developer of the 1980s and early 1990s MULE is a seminal multiplayer Video game written in 1983 by Dani Bunten of Ozark Softscape. Danielle Bunten Berry ( February 19, 1949 - July 3, 1998) also known as Dani Bunten (born Daniel Paul Bunten) was Ozark Softscape was a Computer game programming team consisting initially of Dan Bunten, Bill Bunten, Jim Rushing, and Alan Watson Dr J and Larry Bird Go One on One, more commonly known as One on One, is a 1983 computer Basketball game for the early era of Music Construction Set ( MCS) is a Music composition notation program. Will Harvey (born c 1967 is a Silicon Valley Entrepreneur who achieved early fame as a Apple II Game programmer at the age of 15 The Seven Cities of Gold is an Adventure game created by Dani Bunten (and the game development team Bunten founded Ozark Softscape Danielle Bunten Berry ( February 19, 1949 - July 3, 1998) also known as Dani Bunten (born Daniel Paul Bunten) was Ozark Softscape was a Computer game programming team consisting initially of Dan Bunten, Bill Bunten, Jim Rushing, and Alan Watson The Bard's Tale ( Tales of the Unknown Volume I) is a Fantasy Computer role-playing game created by Interplay Productions in Mail Order Monsters is an innovative 1985 Computer game created by Paul Reiche III, Evan Robinson and Nicky Paul Reiche III (born February 17 1961) is a computer Game designer. Nicky Robinson is a Computer game programmer, one of the earliest women to enter the field Racing Destruction Set is a Car racing and Motocross Computer game that was published in 1985 by Electronic Arts. See Interstellar travel for travel between the stars For other uses of Starflight see Starflight (disambiguation Skate or Die! is a Skateboarding game released by Electronic Arts in 1987 for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Atari Populous is a computer game developed by Bullfrog in 1989 and is regarded by many as being the seminal God game. Bullfrog Productions was a UK computer game developer that was founded in 1987 by Les Edgar and Peter Molyneux. Strike is the common name of a series of Video games created by Mike Posehn John Patrick Manley and Tony Barnes released between 1991 and 1997 by Electronic Arts for FIFA Football, also known as FIFA Soccer or FIFA in some regions is a series of football (soccer Video games Need For Speed ( NFS) is a series of racing Video games developed by Canadian based company EA Black Box Road & Track is an Automobile enthusiast Magazine in the United States, founded by two friends in 1947 Ultima Online ( UO) is a graphical Massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG released on September 25 1997 As of Origin Systems Inc (sometimes abbreviated as OSI) was a Computer game developer based in Austin Texas that was active from 1983 to Command & Conquer (often abbreviated as C&C or CNC) is a Video game franchise, mostly of the Westwood Studios ( 1985 - 2003) was a computer and Video game developer, founded in 1985 as Westwood Associates by Brett Sperry Virgin Interactive was a successful and influential British Video game publisher. Dungeon Keeper 2 is an IBM PC Strategy game developed by Bullfrog Productions and published by Electronic Arts in 1999| Bullfrog Productions was a UK computer game developer that was founded in 1987 by Les Edgar and Peter Molyneux. SimCity is a city-building simulation game, first released in 1989 and designed by Will Wright. Maxis Software is an American company that was founded as a Video game developer and is now a brand name of Electronic Arts (EA Medal of Honor is the first title in the long-running ''Medal of Honor'' series of video games Snowboard Supercross (more commonly known as SSX is a series of Snowboarding video games published by EA Sports BIG. Over the past twenty years there have been numerous James Bond games featuring Ian Fleming 's British secret service agent Commander James Bond The Sims is a strategic life-simulation computer game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. Maxis Software is an American company that was founded as a Video game developer and is now a brand name of Electronic Arts (EA Burnout (sometimes Burnout Battle Racing Ignited) is a series of high-speed Racing games for the PlayStation 2, Playstation 3, The Sims 2 is a strategic life simulation Computer game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Maxis Software is an American company that was founded as a Video game developer and is now a brand name of Electronic Arts (EA The Battlefield franchise is a series of computer and console games that started with the PC / Mac game Battlefield 1942, the series is developed EA Digital Illusions Creative Entertainment AB (EA DICE is a Swedish Video game developer, wholly owned by Electronic Arts, best known Madden NFL is an American football Video game series developed by Electronic Arts Tiburon for EA Sports. This article is for the video game series for the sport see College Football. CRYSIS is an acronym for CRY ogenic S tockholm I on S ource CRYSIS is an Ion source of EBIS type and is located in Stockholm The most popular of these was closely related to the video game industry and was actually used by several of their developers. Deluxe Paint premiered on the Amiga in 1985 and was later ported to other systems. Deluxe Paint ( DPaint) is a Bitmap graphics editor originally created by Dan Silva for Electronic Arts (EA The Amiga is a family of Personal computers originally developed by Amiga Corporation. Year 1985 ( MCMLXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays 1985 Gregorian calendar) The last version in the line, Deluxe Paint V, was released in 1994. Year 1994 ( MCMXCIV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar) Other non-game titles include Music Construction Set (and Deluxe Music Construction Set), Deluxe Paint Animation and Instant Music. Music Construction Set ( MCS) is a Music composition notation program. Deluxe Music Construction Set is a 1986 Music composition notation and playback program for the Amiga and Apple Macintosh Deluxe Paint Animation is a Graphics editor and animation creation package that is an MS-DOS adaptation of Deluxe Paint, with additional animation Instant Music is an Interactive Music Software program released by Electronic Arts in 1986. EA also published a black and white animation tool called Studio/1, and a series of Paint titles on the Macintosh: Studio/8 and Studio/32 (1990).

Corporate affairs

Logos

Current Electronic Arts logo
Current Electronic Arts logo

The Electronic Arts logo has undergone few changes in the company's history.

1982 to 1999

The classic Electronic Arts logo
The classic Electronic Arts logo

EA's classic Square/Circle/Triangle corporate logo, adopted shortly after its founding and phased out in 1999, was devised by Barry Deutsch of Steinhilber Deutsch and Gard design firm. The three shapes were meant to stand for the "basic alphabet of graphic design. " The shapes were rasterized to connote technology.

Many customers mistook the square/circle/triangle logo for a stylized "EOA. " Though they thought the "E" stood for "Electronic" and "A" for "Arts," they had no idea what the "O" could stand for, except perhaps the o in "Electronic. " An early newsletter of EA, Farther, even jokingly discussed the topic in one issue, claiming that the square and triangle indeed stood for "E" and "A", but that the circle was merely "a Nerf ball that got stuck in a floppy drive and has been popping up on our splash screens ever since. A newsletter is a regularly distributed Publication generally about one main topic that is of Interest to its Subscribers Newspapers and NERF (or sometimes Nerf) is a type of toy created for safe indoor play that either shoots or is made of foam-like material " This was, in part, true. In the early days at Electronic Arts, nerf balls imprinted with the square/circle/triangle shapes could be found floating around the office, in cubicles and elsewhere. Other customers saw the logo as a stylized "ECA".

Nancy Fong and Bing Gordon came up with the idea to hide the three shapes on the cover of every game, borrowing the idea from the urban legends concerning the placement of the bunny symbols on the covers of Playboy magazine. An urban legend or urban myth is a form of modern Folklore consisting of stories thought to be factual by those circulating them Playboy is an American Men's magazine, founded in Chicago Illinois, by Hugh Hefner and his associates which has grown into Playboy Finding the logo's hidden placement on early EA titles was a ritual for employees whenever a new cover was displayed outside Fong's cubicle.

1999 to present

The original EASN and EA Sports logos
The original EASN and EA Sports logos

The current EA logo was derived from the logo used by sub-brand EA Sports. EA Sports is a brand name used by Electronic Arts since 1993 to distribute games based on Sports Formerly a gimmick inside Electronic Arts sports It was first used, in a different form, in 1992, when Electronic Arts introduced the "EASN" brand (later changed to "EA Sports" due to legal difficulties with ESPN). ESPN, originally an acronym for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, is an American Cable television network dedicated to The logo was modified and adopted company-wide around 1999.

In-game logo introductions

Slogans

Studios and subsidiaries

EA headquarters in daylight
EA headquarters in daylight

Current studios

Former studios


See also

References

  1. ^ http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_files/IROL/88/88189/Q4Release.pdf
  2. ^ untitled
  3. ^ Electronic Arts Q4 & FY2008 Financial Results
  4. ^ Companies - Electronic Arts
  5. ^ Electronic Arts cuts staff by 5 percent from GameSpot
  6. ^ Big Deal: EA and NFL ink exclusive licensing agreement - Xbox News at GameSpot
  7. ^ ESPN - All Madden, all the time - Sportsbusiness
  8. ^ GameSpy comments on EA's yearly update strategy
  9. ^ EA moves towards new IPs from Gamesindustry.biz
  10. ^ EA ships four Mac games from MacWorld
  11. ^ EA - Action, Fantasy, Sports, and Strategy Videogames
  12. ^ EA's CEO: How I Learned To Acquire Developers And Not Screw Them Up | Game | Life from Wired.com
  13. ^ Electronic Arts - Video Games - New York Times
  14. ^ BioWare founders: 'We're not done yet' - Joystiq
  15. ^ Top: EA Makes Offer to Buy Take 2
  16. ^ Take-two Interactive: Analyst "Convinced" That Take-Two Will Be Swallowed
  17. ^ Rumor: Viacom To Buy Take-Two?
  18. ^ Electronic Arts to acquire Korean mobile developer, Associated Press, 22 May 2008
  19. ^ Gamasutra.com, EA Announces New Company Structure, June 18, 2007
  20. ^ EA's CEO: How I Learned To Acquire Developers And Not Screw Them Up | Game | Life from Wired.com
  21. ^ Electronic Arts - Video Games - New York Times
  22. ^ BioWare founders: 'We're not done yet' - Joystiq
  23. ^ EDGAR Online via Yahoo! Finance, Electronic Arts FY 2008 10K Filing
  24. ^ "The Conquest of Origin", page 2 from The Escapist
  25. ^ Many believe Ultima IX was unfairly maligned because of rushed development schedule
  26. ^ Ultima VIII received poorly by fans
  27. ^ Ultima IX received poorly by fans
  28. ^ Wired GameLife, EA's CEO: How I Learned To Acquire Developers And Not Screw Them Up, Feb 8, 2008
  29. ^ EA Closes Down Warrington Studio - Another development studio shut down - Softpedia
  30. ^ EA shuts down DICE Canada - News at GameSpot
  31. ^ GamePro | EA to Shut Down Origin Systems
  32. ^ Layoffs and Restructuring at EA LA news from 1UP.com
  33. ^ Ubisoft CEO Speaks on Takeover - TotalGaming.net news, 22 September 2005
  34. ^ Ubisoft president 'still considering' EA acquisition - Joystiq
  35. ^ The original ea_spouse blog entry at LiveJournal
  36. ^ "Employees readying class-action lawsuit against EA" from GameSpot
  37. ^ "Programmers Win EA Overtime Settlement, EA_Spouse Revealed" from Gamasutra
  38. ^ [http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/story.html?id=fac8e0f4-c0e7-47e5-a236-7cdc586e4ab4&k=64455 "'Big corporation' does a turnaround"
  39. ^ [http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=18621 "'EA_Spouse' Hoffman: Quality Of Life Still Issue, Despite EA Improvement"
  40. ^ Top 10 publishers according to Game Develop magazine
  41. ^ Analyst: EA brand tarnished
  42. ^ EA brand "tarnished" according to analyst
  43. ^ EA innovation crawls along at "snail's pace".
  44. ^ EA CEO John Riccitiello: More innovation is needed in videogames
  45. ^ http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/ea-completes-bioware-pandemic-deal Bioware/Pandemic deal goes through. This is a list of Video games published and/or developed by Electronic Arts. This is a list of computer and video game companies most of whose rights and assets presently belong to a specific GameSpot is a video gaming Website that provides News, Reviews Previews Downloads and other information Not to be confused with McWorld, a term for globalisation Macworld is a web site and monthly Computer magazine dedicated Events 334 BC - The Greek army of Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of the Granicus. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common The Escapist is an Online magazine covering Video games, Gamers, the gaming industry and gaming culture Stardock Corporation is a Software development company founded in 1991 and incorporated in 1993 as Stardock Systems. Events 66 - Emperor Nero creates the Legion I Italica. 1236 - The Lithuanians Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. LiveJournal (often abbreviated LJ) is a Virtual community where Internet users can keep a Blog, Journal or Diary. Gamasutra is a Web site founded in 1997 for Video game developers It is owned and operated by CMP Media, and acts as the online sister publication to the A video game publisher is a company that publishes Video games that they have either developed internally or have had developed by a Video game developer
  46. ^ a b c "EA staffer plays history revisionist on Wikipedia" from Joystiq. com
  47. ^ "EA Staffer Attempts to Alter Wiki History" from ShackNews. com
  48. ^ "EA responds to Wikipedia revision controversy" article from GamesIndustry. biz
  49. ^ "The Sims overtakes Myst" article from GameSpot
  50. ^ In 2008, Pinball Construction Set was awarded at the 59th Annual Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards for "User Generated Content/Game Modification": 2008 Tech Emmy Winners from Kotaku. GameSpot is a video gaming Website that provides News, Reviews Previews Downloads and other information A Technology and Engineering Emmy Award is given by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS for outstanding achievement in technical or com

Further reading

External links

Business data
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