Trip Hawkins

Trip Hawkins founded Electronic Arts in 1982 with the influential vision that software developers were artists who deserved to be treated with the same respect as musicians or filmmakers, a philosophy that led him to pioneer premium packaging, high royalty rates, and developer-centric marketing in the nascent PC gaming industry.

Electronic Arts possesses a historic, founding story, rooted in the genesis of the personal computer revolution and driven by a foundational respect for software developers as genuine artists. The company was founded in 1982 by Trip Hawkins, an effective, ambitious executive. Hawkins was embedded in the early Silicon Valley ecosystem; he was the Director of Strategy and Marketing at Apple Computer, working directly under Steve Jobs. Hawkins was wealthy from his Apple stock options, but he possessed a deep, conviction that the personal computer (specifically the newly released Apple II and Commodore 64) was not just a tool for spreadsheets, but an influential medium for interactive entertainment. He left Apple and founded Amazin' Software (which he quickly renamed Electronic Arts) with a foundational philosophy: he believed that video game programmers were not just coders; they were 'software artists.' At the time, game publishers treated developers terribly, often refusing to even put their names on the game boxes. Hawkins inverted this model. Borrowing heavily from the music industry, EA packaged its early games in distinctive, square 'album covers,' prominently featuring the names and photographs of the developers on the back. He treated them like rock stars, paying royalties. This radical, respectful approach allowed EA to recruit the best programming talent in the world. Hawkins also pioneered the aggressive, direct-to-retail distribution strategy, bypassing the expensive third-party distributors. Hawkins' effective elevation of the developer and his aggressive business tactics established the foundational architecture of the modern multi-billion dollar video game publishing industry.