Electronic Arts (EA) has achieved a significant milestone: 40 years in the industry. The creation of EA was a year-and-a-half-long process, from the idea to the first games. The studio was founded by Californian Trip Hawkins, who had been a tech nerd, role player, and sports fan since childhood. After obtaining a degree in Game Theory from Harvard and an MBA from Stanford, Hawkins became one of Apple’s first employees in 1978. He benefited from the IPO of Apple and fulfilled his dream of starting a company for computer games.
EA’s first five titles were launched a year after its inception, with “Hard Hat Mack” considered the first game. “Archon,” “MULE,” “Axis Assassin”, and “Worms?” followed. In June 1983, EA went public. The company initially acted as a publisher, signing deals with individual developers and small studios and handling their publishing and marketing. EA’s philosophy was to create games that weren’t written by “despicable programmers” but by artists, or “software artists.”
From 1984, EA built up its sales network and began opening offices and calling specialty stores. In 1986, EA was the largest game distributor globally. The studio initially focused on Apple II and Atari computers, but the Commodore 64 took on an important role. With the Amiga, EA secured one of the first prototypes and developed valuable tools like “Deluxe Paint,” which became the standard for many games. In 1990, EA moved to consoles, allying with SEGA, which had recently launched Mega Drive. EA’s sports games performed especially well and became long-standing franchises like FIFA, NBA, Madden, and NHL.
EA also sought cooperation with the film industry and partnered with DreamWorks SKG. The studio secured attractive film licenses such as “James Bond,” “The Lord of the Rings,” “Star Wars,” and “The Godfather.” However, EA received a lot of criticism over the years for the lack of innovation in its long-standing game series, loot boxes, microtransactions, and the purchase of numerous studios whose names were eventually forgotten. Critics claimed that EA’s focus was solely on market shares and sales and that it exploited brands with annual updates.
Despite the controversies surrounding the studio, EA has employed 13,000 people and generated sales of $7 billion. To achieve such longevity, it’s clear that EA has done more right than wrong towards gaming enthusiasts over its 40 years of existence.
