40 years of Electronic Arts: It’s the birthday of the great games uncle

40 years of Electronic Arts: It's the birthday of the great games uncle

I clearly remember when the trial version of this supposedly unique game arrived. A colleague actually had his review planned, but I was so excited that I looked it up myself shortly before closing time. And from the very first second, what I played there captivated me with such great emotional intensity that I simply took the test console home with me (that was how it was back then) to immerse myself in an experience over the weekend that one of the most formative for me to this day. This game is called Mirror’s Edge, and it’s just one of the reasons Electronic Arts has a huge slate in my head, despite all the valid criticism.

In fact, it is exactly 40 years to the day that EA was founded by former Apple employee Trip Hawkins, and one thing became clear to me immediately when I looked back briefly: Electronic Arts is in my gaming Vita always been there. It is the only constant companion whose logo is emblazoned on the artwork of titles of all genres, including well-sounding classics such as MULE, Wasteland, Road Rash or Indianapolis 500, one of the first serious racing simulations ever.


For me, the best thing EA has ever released: The freedom that you enjoy high above the equally dystopian and artistically unique city is unique to this day and is only captured by the unfortunately underrated Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst.

Oh, and how I giggled when we pole vaulted over dinosaurs at Caveman Ugh-lympcis! If you didn’t get high enough, you ended up in the beast’s mouth. There was also throwing for a spouse, as well as the simultaneous bet and run away from a saber-toothed tiger. Has anyone played this? Summer, Winter or the California Games were never my thing, but the Ugh Olympics were great.

EA not only started to produce games early on, but also to develop them itself. The also well-known Skate or Die was probably the first in-house production – thanks at this point mobygames and Wikipedia, whose information and lengthy lists only make it clear how much the big software house has contributed to the best pastime in the world. Although I think “Electronic Arts” is a pretty cool name, by the way. “Electronic Art” is so beautifully pragmatic, but looking ahead, it also confidently expresses what this medium has to offer. Don’t forget: the 80’s were very different times when it came to tolerance for video games!

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By the way, if you wanted to refresh old memories: There is a big sale on GOG.com numerous EA classics.

Even if EA was primarily on PCs in its early years, i.e. published computer games that were more independent at the time, and distinguished itself as the publisher of various hardcore simulations, among other things. F/A-18 Interceptor and the Jane’s Combat Simulations franchise comes to mind and the fact that, despite the huge manual, I’ve never managed to get my bearings in their excellent F-15.

In any case, EA was also a direct competitor to MicroProse in the simulations, whose name I hold dear because, among other things, they released one of my biggest time wasters with Microprose Formula One Grand Prix – only that EA of all people actually succeeded in this love to put off the long bench. There I stood in one of “my” computer shops and puzzled over how I should invest my hard-earned pocket money. Because actually I really wanted to have F1GP, only a box next to it with the writing “Populous II” smiled at me. What could you do there! Trigger earthquakes, summon tornadoes, rain down fire, and even physically alter the entire landscape. I had never played the predecessor, but these possibilities had such a strong appeal to me that I grabbed the Bullfrog title and left Formula 1 on the shelf for the time being.

Peter Molyneux’s Bullfrog was one of the very important, often pioneering, studios within the EA family. What was Syndicate alone and its successor, which I felt underestimated, great! Or take Dungeon Kepper and Theme Park: They should also have cost some of you dozens of hours – if that’s enough.


Syndicate is also one of the great classics. The atmosphere and game mechanics were something very special. Will there be a remake of this anytime soon?

And I mustn’t forget that Origin sent me to the most exciting slipper cinema that could be experienced at the time with Wing Commander 4. I always found space cats – sorry, folks – silly. But when I decided to defect with Blair in the middle of the battle, later witnessed the wiping out of an entire planet and Admiral Tolwyn was finally tried in an emotional compilation (“And it is your fault!”), I was incredibly grateful for that Electronic Arts funded this stunning epic for its time.

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That’s right: At this point at the latest, it’s difficult to avoid mentioning this other Electronic Arts. The EA that for a long time had a reputation for absorbing well-known studios, only to stamp them out a few years later or otherwise let them go under. Unfortunately, Origin is just as much a part of it as Westwood, which once achieved no less than inventing modern real-time strategy with Dune 2 and Command & Conquer. Not even five years after the purchase by EA, the gates were closed there.


How powerful it was back then, when suddenly a hero of the big screen embodied his own alter ego with “Luke Skywalker”!

BioWare, DICE and Maxis, which are still active today and have created such powerful brands as Battlefield, Mass Effect or The Sims as part of the EA family, have proven that there is another way. Well, evil tongues could claim that the company and gaming culture is now also on the gums there. How alone SimCity was developed past its fans…

The company’s sunny headquarters in Redwood, California, really made it popular, but it wasn’t until they made frighteningly ruthless forays into microtransactions. For example, Need for Speed ​​World was one of the most prominent representatives of brazen pay-to-win, because you could simply buy better cars for online races against other players. Has EA learned from this? Well, at least the character development in Star Wars: Battlefront 2 was originally intended to be linked to loot boxes that could also have been bought for real money. “It’s in the game!” Yes, exactly. And it’s even quicker if you pay more after the full price.


There are two sides to EA: that of excellent games and that of ruthless business dealings, if necessary even at the expense of fairness in online competition.

Now I don’t want to drag the sonorous slogan through the dirt. Even if it has since been retired, it was still a kind of trademark of several EA Sports titles for more than 20 years. And you have to give EA credit for not inventing virtual sports, but making them big. As an editor, I’ve followed the Tiger Woods and NHL series for a long time, and it’s not uncommon for them to – put simply – only fail because their predecessors were already damn good.

Phew… where do you actually stop when you look back on four decades that were so full to bursting? I haven’t even mentioned the great Army of Two, although as one of the first games you could not only play it cooperatively, but where both buddies complemented each other in a meaningful way. Even more important was Crysis, which left such a fat crater graphically at the time that the gaming world and Digital Foundry are still asking: “Can it run Crysis?” And my goodness how much time and money I put into Rock Band alone before I even started playing drums just because of that.

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With Medal of Honor, EA also shaped an entire generation of World War II shooters. Especially since the publisher even managed the coup with Vince Zampella and Jason West to recruit the makers of the big competitor Call of Duty, whereupon their Respawn Studio would not only develop Titanfall twice, but also stir up the Battle Royale with Apex Legends. If you ask me, since then nothing works without context-sensitive ping! And right, with Jedi: Fallen Order, the two have even produced a strong Star Wars title – three more are already in the works.


An indicator to this day: Does Crysis run on a current PC with all the details? Most recently, the Steam Deck had to face this question.

In other words: EA is far from enough! Some crises you had to survive and some you even triggered yourself. Apart from that, however, the old uncle of the game manufacturers is in the best of health and, despite the big four, is trudging towards the future without a real midlife crisis. Currently in the program: the Star Wars titles mentioned, a new edition of Dead Space, a previously unannounced remake, a sports game (doh!) and another game that is being developed by a “partner”. And that shouldn’t be all.

So it looks like Electronic Arts will be with us for a while and I’m actually happy about that. You can accuse the listed money printing machine of a lot – but without at least as many unique experiences, the gaming world would be a whole lot poorer. And so I’m happy to say “Happy Birthday!” to this giant of the gaming world after a long 40 years. can wish. Raise your cups – Today it’s in the glass!



Reference-www.eurogamer.de