1. Fall
1.1. Controlling Players
1.1.1. EA customer Service would place a permanent ban on a player's Origins account when they called to complain about getting locked from their games for commenting on a different site.
1.2. Rushed Games
1.2.1. Multiple studios that EA acquired, and then changed to their liking, shut down when the employees had to rush games to meet unrealistic deadlines, leaving the game to be released unfinished and get bad reviews and low sales
1.3. Profit focused
1.3.1. SimCity Reboot in 2013, a decade after EA purchased and saved Maxis from bankruptcy. Too focused on profit and decided to add a new feature in the new SimCity release- a required internet access to verify the players. Horrible design that left many players unable to play.
1.4. Forced Content
1.4.1. Games end up being more focused on the repetitive multiplayer option. Enemies don’t engage you much, and games have many bugs. EA does not give enough incentive to keep playing. Games are failing because they give players what they thought was better, not what the players actually wanted.
2. Rise
2.1. Founder, Trip Hawkins
2.1.1. Founded by former Apple marketer Trip Hawkins, a successful businessman with the desire to create games that would help everyday households stay socially and intellectually stimulated
2.2. Acquisition of Smaller Studios
2.2.1. EA was able to acquire studios such as BioWare, PopCap, DICE, Respawn, etc. Not only did they acquire these studios but also popular games accompanied with these studios such as Plants vs. Zombies, Apex, Titanfall, and Mass Effect.
2.3. Deal with Sega
2.3.1. 1989 Hawkins uses EA’s programming experience to negotiate a lucrative deal with Sega, then dominates the American market with a steady stream of Genesis games
3. Maintain
3.1. EA Sports Game Division
3.1.1. EA has maintained their success throughout the years with the success of the sport games like FIFA, NBA, and Madden.
3.2. Exclusive rights to NFL games
3.2.1. EA Sports will retain exclusive rights to publish simulation-style NFL video games, such as the “Madden” franchise, through at least the 2025 season.
3.3. Partnerships with Larger Franchises
3.3.1. Partnerships with LucasFilms, BioWare, and DICE have kept EA relevant due to being associated with larger video game franchises. i.e. Battlefield and Battlefront.