Voting Station

Electronic Arts

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Corporation

The Resume

    (May 28, 1982- )
    Founded by Trip Hawkins
    Owns Maxis (Sim City/Sims), Criterion (Burnout), Origin (Ultima series), Bullfrog (Populous), and Tiburon (Madden series)
    Trying to buy Digital Illusions (makers of Battlefield series) and Ubisoft (Splinter Cell, Rainbow Six)
    Made exclusivity deals with NFL and ESPN (2004-2005)

Why Electronic Arts might be annoying:

    It runs game series to the ground (Madden, Ultima, etc.)
    Trip Hawkins quit EA to form 3DO and they even made a console, which flopped due to the $700 price. Despite TIME Magazine going gaga over it (1993-1995), 3DO went out of business in 2003.
    Many people read the 'EA Spouse' blog on Livejournal, where the wife of a worker at EA reveals the bad working conditions at EA. As a result, EA faced lawsuits from workers (2004).
    Quality of games declined as EA became more megalomaniacal.
    Instead of maybe including gimmicks here and there that would make its tired Madden series tackle the competition, EA decides to handle competition the dirty way by starving out the competition with exclusivity deals, including an exclusive license for representing the NFL (2004).
    The founders complained about what has become of the company (2005).
    It shuts down whatever it buys (Westwood, Bullfrog, Origin) (1990's).
    The French government is trying to prevent EA from buying Ubisoft (2005).
    EA made a bad deal with Sony, making online features exclusive to PS2, though Xbox had a better service. Xbox owners protested and it expanded the deal to Xbox (2002-2004).

Why Electronic Arts might not be annoying:

    EA tries to be as fair as they can, not making any exclusive titles for specific consoles.
    It used to treat developers like 'rock stars,' even packaging games like records (1980's-1990's).
    That treatment was a significant part of EA's success.
    It gives us great games such as Madden Football, Burnout 3, Sims, and Battlefield 1942 to name a few.
    The Madden games were instrumental in bringing video games to the average sports lover.
    The exclusivity deals have changed the course of history forever.
    It was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as The World's Most Successful Game Company (2000's).

Credit: Dweed


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 8 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 37 Votes: 16.22% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 18 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 11 Votes: 45.45% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 57 Votes: 52.63% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 9 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 14 Votes: 78.57% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 14 Votes: 71.43% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 27 Votes: 77.78% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 15 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 36 Votes: 47.22% Annoying
    In 2007, Out of 77 Votes: 62.34% Annoying
    In 2006, Out of 131 Votes: 64.12% Annoying
    In 2005, Out of 214 Votes: 70.09% Annoying