Pioneers of the industry: Electronic Arts

This year marks the 40th anniversary of Electronic Arts (EA). Microzeit shows screenshots of some of the most beloved titles from the company's vast catalogue of video games. We are starting from the 1980s and working up towards the end of the 1990s.

Join us on a visual trip down memory lane!

Electronic Arts was founded in 1982 by Trip Hawkins, who had been among the fifty-first employees at Apple. After working for four years for Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, and securing the position of Director of Strategy and Marketing, he was ready to leave, but not on a whim; Hawkins knew exactly why and when to exit and start-up EA. He had predicted in 1975 that it would take seven years before there was a proper market for home computer games.

The name Electronic Arts pays homage to the film company United Artists and was close to being called Electronic Artists instead. The name reflects the company's early ethos of putting developers first. Electronic Arts were probably the first video game company to really promote the people behind the games and even refer to their developers as artists.

The US developer also knew how to market its games. In a time when the actual game graphics were often simple, or even crude, the packaging played a significant role in creating hype. EA doubled down on its packaging and had cover artwork that resembled those found on contemporary music albums.