Electronic Arts, Inc. (EA), also known as EA Games, is an American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games headquartered in Redwood City, California, United States. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company wasa pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting thedesigners and programmers responsible for its games. In 2011 Electronic Arts was the world's third-largest gaming company by revenue after Nintendo and Activision Blizzard.Currently, EA develops and publishes games under several labels including EA Sports titlesMadden NFL, FIFA, NHL, NCAA Football, NBA Live, and SSX. Other EA labels produce established franchises such as Battlefield, Need for Speed, The Sims, Medal of Honor, Command & Conquer, as well as newer franchises such as Dead Space, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Army of Two, Titanfall and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, produced in partnership with LucasArts. EA also owns and operates major gaming studios, EA Tiburon in Orlando, EA Canada in Burnaby, BioWare in Edmonton as well as Montreal, and DICE in Sweden.

PEOPLE WHO REVOLUTIONIZED THE GAME THEORY

TRIP HAWKINS (FOUNDER)

Andrew Wilson (CEO)

Peter Moore (COO) Larry Probost (CHAIRMAN)

TRIP HAWKINS

Hawkins designed his own undergraduate major at Harvard University in Strategy and Applied Game Theory.Hawkins was the Director of Strategy and Marketing at Apple Computer in 1982 when he left to found Electronic Arts (EA), a video game publisher. Electronic Arts was successful for many years under Hawkins' leadership . Though he remained chair of the board, Hawkins transitioned from EA in 1991 to form 3DO, a video game console company. 3DO was formed in partnership with several other companies including EA. Upon its release in 1993, the 3DO was the most powerful video game console at the time. It was also expensive, costing US$599, compared to other major systems retailing for under $200. Sales were poor due to its exorbitant price and weak games that relied excessively on full motion video sequences (which were state-of-the-art for the time) at the expense of gameplay. Hopes for the system were further damaged in 1994 with the arrival of the Sony PlayStation, which beat the 3DO in price.In 1996 3DO stopped developing the system and transitioned into a video game developer, making games for the PlayStation, PC and other consoles. Hawkins decided to make branding a focus and 6–9-month production timetables for games. As a result, quality suffered as did sales. Hawkins had used cash reserves to bail out the failing company before, but declined to do so a final time. Due to poor sales of its titles, it went bankrupt in May 2003. 3DO is now out of business. The defunct company sold most of its intellectual property, including MMO Might and Magic to publisher Ubisoft.

Wilson joined EA in 2000, and worked in the company's Asian and European markets for several years before moving to EA Sports and then becoming an Executive Pro on the FIFA franchise. In August 2011 he was appointed Executive Vice President of EA Sports, and he also took on duties as Executive Vice President of the company's Origin platform in April 2013.Six months after the resignation of John Riccitiello, Wilson was chosen to be the new CEO of the company on September 17, 2013. His appointment was seen as a surprise, with many observers having considered COO Peter Moore and EA Labels President Frank Gibeau the frontrunners for the position.In a blog post on EA's website, Wilson said that he was "deeply honored and humbled" to take up the job, and said he envisioned EA as "the world's greatest games company."

ANDREW WILSON

Peter Moore (born 1955) is a British business executive best known for his former positions as Corporate Vice-President of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business division, overseeing the Xbox and Xbox 360 game consoles, and president of SEGA of America. On 17 July 2007, Moore announced his resignation from Microsoft to take over the EA Sports division of Electronic Arts.

MicrosoftIn 2003, Microsoft hired Moore to help the Xbox compete with other next generation consoles. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer had been frustrated by the low market share of Xbox (then stalled at 23% in the United States).Electronic ArtsOn 17 July 2007, Electronic Arts announced that Peter Moore would be leaving Microsoft to head the sports division at Electronic Arts. Moore reportedly wanted to move back to the San Francisco Bay area to live with his family, which was possible with EA. His position as Vice-President of Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft was filled by Don Mattrick (who later also left Microsoft to join Zynga as CEO).Moore was parodied in an episode of South Park, Season 15's Crack Baby Athletic Association, focusing on the NCAA's relationship with Electronic Arts.On 4 August 2011, Moore was promoted from EA Sports President to the role of chief operating officer in a structure reshuffle. An image of him can be seen in Criterion's 2012 video game Need for Speed: Most Wanted on a wanted billboard.

PETER MOORE

Probst worked for Johnson & Johnson and Clorox before being recruited into the video game industry through Activision in 1982. 2 years later he joined EA as Vice President for Sales until 1986.He then took on the role of the company's senior vice president of the publishing division from 1986-1990.Probst became president of Electronic Arts from 1990-1997.During this time, he was also pronounced CEO of Electronic Arts in 1991 which he held unto the April of 2007.When President and Chief Operating Officer John Riccitiello resigned in April 2004, Probst became his successor. Riccitiello was re-hired as CEO in 2007, Probst then retained his non-operational duties as Chairman. He then worked as Executive Chairman of Electronic Arts Inc. from March 18, 2013 to January 1, 2015. and former Chief Executive Officer of the company.According to EA's 2005 Annual Report, Probst is the biggest individual shareholder in EA, owning 739,761 shares and the right to acquire a further 3.1 million, which combined accounts for 1.2 percent of the company. Probst sits on the boards of two cancer research groups: the V Foundation and ABC2.In addition to his work at Electronic Arts, Larry Probst also served as the Chairman of Digital Entertainment Corporation of America.

LARRYPROBOST

EA is headed by executive chairman Larry Probst and CEO Andrew Wilson. All of EA's labels and studios are overseen by Frank Gibeau, who was appointed President of EA Labels in 2011. Many have attributed former CEO John Riccitiello's success in leading EA to his passion as a gamer. Electronic Arts has four main labels, with numerous studios falling under each one.The current labels were created in late 2011.EA Games—Home to the largest number of studio and development teams, this label is responsible for action-adventure, role playing, racing and combat games, marketed under the EA brand. In addition to traditional packaged-goods games, EA Games also develops massively multiplayer online role-playing games. Led by Patrick Söderlund.

Criterion GamesEA Digital Illusions CE (formerly Digital Illusions Creative Entertainment, DICE)

DICE Los AngelesGhost GamesVisceral Games (formerly EA Redwood Shores)EA BioWare—focuses on creating multiplatform, role-playing, MMO and strategy games. Includes

BioWare EdmontonBioWare AustinBioWare Montreal

Company structure

EA Sports—Publishes all the realistic, casual, and freestyle sports-based titles from EA, including FIFA Football, Madden NFL, Fight Night, NBA Live, NCAA Football, Cricket, NCAA March Madness, Tiger Woods PGA Tour, NHL Hockey, NASCAR and Rugby. Led by Patrick Söderlund.

EA Tiburon (Florida)EA Canada (Burnaby)

EA Maxis—Creates and publishes casual games for gamers and non-traditional gamers. Includes The Sims series and developing and marketing life-simulation games and online communities. The label is headquartered at EA's campus in Redwood Shores, although the original studio is located in Emeryville.(formerly EA Play)

Maxis Redwood ShoresMaxis Salt LakeMaxis MelbourneMaxis Helsinki

EA All Play—Includes original EA and partner franchises like The Simpsons, Tetris, SCRABBLE, MONOPOLY, World Series of Poker, Real Racing, Ultima, as well as online games for the Pogo.com online service.

PopCap GamesEA Mobile

Games in development2015 releaseThe Sims 4: Get to Work (Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X)Rory McIlroy PGA Tour (PlayStation 4, Xbox One)Need for Speed: No Limits (iOS, Android)Star Wars: Battlefront (Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One)TBAMirror's Edge 2 (Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One)Untitled Mass Effect sequel (Platforms TBA)Untitled Criterion Games new IP (Platforms TBA)Untitled BioWare Star Wars game (Platforms TBA)Untitled Visceral Games Star Wars Game (Platforms TBA)Untitled Ghost Games Need for Speed game (Platforms TBA)

FINGERS CROSSED !!