Electronic Arts (EA Games): An Overreliance on Console Manufacturers Sony and Microsoft

Electronic Arts (EA), a premier publisher of computer video games and software, was founded in 1982 by three former Apple Computer managers with a small team of 11 people and USD5 million dollars. The company had a vision: to inspire the world to play its video games not simply because they were games, but because they were an art form. Unlike Nintendo and Sega that only created games for their own proprietary consoles, EA Games developed software for a variety of manufacturers' consoles, computers, and mobile phones. Microsoft and Sony were EA's two largest partners - a significant portion of EA's business derived from developing videogames for the Xbox and PlayStation. How to be less dependent on Microsoft and Sony became a crucial question for EA's long-term growth. In addition, since most games are released to coincide with professional sports seasons and Christmas, EA had to generate more revenue in the off-season as well as combat software piracy in emerging markets and improve customer engagement and satisfaction.