What is Electronic Arts?
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA.O) is a multinational entertainment software company. Its headquarters are located in Redwood City, California. EA develops, sells and distributes video games playable on consoles, PCs, tablets and mobile phones.
What does the company do?
The company owns and markets such game brands as Mass Effect, Battlefield, The Sims, Need for Speed, and Plants vs. Zombies. EA also makes games that are based on licensed brand names, e.g. Star Wars, FIFA, Madden NFL. Users can purchase and download EA games via the Origin platform or from third-party stores.
A bit of Electronic Arts’ history
Founded in 1882, Electronic Arts began developing video games in-house and further grew via the acquisition of other successful game developers. By the early 2000s, EA started the direct distribution of digital games after the acquisition of Pogo.com, a popular online gaming website. In 2009 Electronic Arts bought the British gaming start-up Playfish. In 2011 EA announced the acquisition of PopCap Games.
Who founded the Electronic Arts?
The company was founded by Trip Hawkings, former Director of Product Marketing at Apple at a time when the company had a team of only 50 specialists. Trip Hawkings established the company, named Electronic Arts on May 27 1982. In order to launch the company, he used his personal investment of $200,000 USD.
Current size, team and locations
In 2017, Electronic Arts was ranked the 2nd-largest gaming software development company in America and Europe by its market capitalisation and revenue, with the first place going to Activision Blizzard.
EA operates worldwide with major gaming studios, including EA Tiburon in Orlando, DICE in Sweden and EA Canada in Burnaby and Montreal. The company has the team of 8,800 specialists, working from different locations all over the world.
Quick fact about Electronic Arts
EA continuously refer to their team-members as “artists” and give them photo credits in their games and full-page magazine advertisements. Their famous ad, accompanied by the slogan “We see father”, was the first video game ad that featured software designers.
Criticism
In April 2012, Electronic Arts was awarded the title of the “Worst Company in America” complete with the Golden Poo trophy, granted by The Consumerist. The result was driven by the controversy, caused by the ending of the Mass Effect 3, which brought huge dissatisfaction among the game’s fans.
How to learn the Electronic Arts share price?
Electronic Arts Inc. is listed and traded on the NASDAQ and constitutes the NASDAQ-100 stock index. Join Capital.com to learn and trade CFDs on the Electronic Arts share price fluctuations and follow the EA chart in real-time.
