Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the d ...

is an American company that is a

developer Developer may refer to: Computers * Software developer, a person or organization who develop programs/applications * Video game developer, a person or business involved in video game development, the process of designing and creating games * Web d ...

, marketer,

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

, and distributor of

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

s, that was founded in 1982. Products of the company include

EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to imitate real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" ...

franchises, ''

Sims Sims, sims or SIMS may refer to: Games * ''The Sims'', a life simulation video game series ** ''The Sims'' (video game), the first installment, released in 2000 ** ''The Sims 2'', the second installment, released in 2004 ** '' The Sims 3'', th ...

'', and other titles on both

handheld A mobile device (or handheld computer) is a computer small enough to hold and operate in the hand. Mobile devices typically have a flat LCD or OLED screen, a touchscreen interface, and digital or physical buttons. They may also have a physical ...

and home

gaming consoles A video game console is an electronic device that outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can be played with a game controller. These may be home consoles, which are generally placed in a permanent location connected to a ...

. Electronic Arts often acquires new companies to expand or add to new product lines. For instance, EA

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

Larry Probst Lawrence Francis Probst III (born June 3, 1950) is an American businessman who is best known for his work with the video game publisher Electronic Arts, including acting as CEO from 1991 until 2007 and as executive chairman from 2013–14. He re ...

said after the acquisition of

JAMDAT Mobile EA Mobile Inc. is an American video game developer, video game development studio of the video game publisher, publisher Electronic Arts (EA) for mobile platforms. The studio's primary business is producing games for mobile phones. It has also ...

that "we intend to build a leading global position in the ..business of providing games on mobile phones". EA followed through with this later, making the company into

EA Mobile EA Mobile Inc. is an American video game development studio of the publisher Electronic Arts (EA) for mobile platforms. The studio's primary business is producing games for mobile phones. It has also produced other entertainment-related softwa ...

, and allowing people to purchase and download content produced by them directly onto their phones. After the acquisition of

Origin Systems Origin Systems, Inc. was an American video game developer based in Austin, Texas. It was founded on March 3, 1983, by Richard Garriott and his brother Robert Garriott, Robert. Origin is best known for their groundbreaking work in multiple genres ...

, some staff in that company claimed that Electronic Arts initially gave them more resources, but allowed little latitude if employees made a mistake, and in some cases no longer trusted them, and even worked against them. EA has shut down entire companies or the studios thereof after acquiring them, including the studio DICE Canada,

, EA Chicago (

NuFX NuFX was a video game developer, headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, United States. NuFX is famous for developing the '' NBA Street'' video game series. They were acquired by Electronic Arts in February 2004 and was merged into EA Chic ...

), and

Pandemic Studios Pandemic Studios, LLC was an American video game developer based in Westwood, Los Angeles. Andrew Goldman and Josh Resnick founded the studio in 1998 after leaving Activision. Pandemic Studios, alongside BioWare, was acquired in 2005 by Elevation ...

. Gaming blogger

Brian Crecente Brian Crecente (born July 28, 1970) is an American journalist and columnist. He founded '' Kotaku'', co-founded ''Polygon'', previously served as video games editor at ''Variety,'' and was in charge of game coverage at ''Rolling Stone''. Car ...

has said that fears that EA doesn't care about the quality of their products after they are acquired are debatable. As of April 2021, Electronic Arts' largest acquisition is the purchase of

Glu Mobile Glu Mobile LLC is an American developer and publisher of video games for mobile phones and tablet computers. Founded in San Francisco, California, in 2004, Glu offers products to multiple platforms including Java ME-based devices, Android, Wind ...

, for $2.4 billion. Of the 39 companies acquired by EA, 20 are based in the U.S., five in the United Kingdom, six in

Continental Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous continent of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by ...

, and eight elsewhere. The majority of these companies and studios are now

defunct Defunct (no longer in use or active) may refer to: * ''Defunct'' (video game), 2014 * Zombie process or defunct process, in Unix-like operating systems See also * * :Former entities * End-of-life product * Obsolescence Obsolescence is t ...

, with some having been merged into other entities. Of the six companies which EA purchased a stake in, two remaining companies are based in the U.S., while three other U.S. companies are defunct. After acquiring a 19.9% stake in France-based

Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Assassin's Creed'', ''Far Cry'', '' ...

in 2004, EA sold a remaining 14.8% stake in it in 2010. Each acquisition listed is for the entire company, unless otherwise noted. The acquisition date listed is the date of the agreement between

(EA) and the subject of the acquisition. Unless otherwise noted, the value of each acquisition is listed in U.S. dollars, because EA is headquartered in the U.S. If the value of the acquisition is not listed, then it is undisclosed. If the EA service that is derived from the acquired company is known, then it is also listed. According to data from Pitch Book via VentureBeat, the company has spent about $2.9 Billion on its 10 biggest acquisitions since 1992. __TOC__

Key

Acquisitions

Total: companies

Stakes

Notes

References

External links

Electronic Arts' official website
{{List of mergers and acquisitions by

Acquisitions Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...