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Trip Hawkins

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Trip Hawkins founded Electronic Arts in 1982 while working as a director of strategy and marketing at Apple Computer.[1] He later created the 3DO console company and the mobile game developer Digital Chocolate.[2][3] The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame inducted its eighth member, Trip Hawkins, in 2005.[4]

Last updated 2026-10-08 from the source article.

Life and work

As a teenager, Hawkins borrowed $5,000 from his father to start a business selling a knockoff version of the Strat-O-Matic Football game, but the venture failed.[5][6] Hawkins transitioned from EA in 1991 to form 3DO, a video game console company, while remaining chair of the board until 1994.[2] The 3DO console launched in 1993 as the most powerful system at the time but sold poorly due to its high price and weak games.[2][7] In late 2003, Hawkins launched Digital Chocolate, a company focused on handheld device games, and stepped down as CEO in May 2012.[3][8]

At Harvard University, Hawkins created a self-designed undergraduate concentration in Strategy and Applied Game Theory.[9][6] Hawkins calculated in 1975 that a viable career in game design would require home computer saturation to develop over a seven-year period.[5][6] John Madden was brought on by Hawkins as both a spokesperson and consultant for EA's football title, an arrangement that ultimately spawned the Madden NFL franchise.[1][6]

What the cited sources add

The ESPN feature by Hruby notes that Hawkins's next-door neighbor was former AFL president Milt Woodard, which allowed Hawkins to send a proposal to Kansas City Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt.[6] Before founding EA, Hawkins studied under record mogul Jerry Moss in Los Angeles.[6] The same source reports that Hawkins was Employee No. 68 at Apple Computer.[6] Hawkins incorporated Electronic Arts on May 28, 1982, according to a TechCrunch article by Lunden.[8]

Hawkins told VentureBeat that bringing down costs is crucial for motion control technology, citing an Apple mouse with a $400 building-materials cost.[10] According to a Polygon article by Lien, Hawkins became a board member of Extreme Reality in 2012, focusing on motion control software that interprets 3D movement using only a 2D camera.[10] A GamesIndustry.biz article by Handrahan states that in December 2014, Hawkins was appointed as a strategic advisor to Skillz, a mobile eSports platform.[11]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Trip Hawkins" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "How to Get a Job in the Game Industry", Imagine Media, April 1996, p. 35; HRUBY, "OTL:The Franchise", ESPN (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Trip Hawkins" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Ramsay, "Gamers at Work: Stories Behind the Games People Play", Apress, 2012, p. 1–15 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Trip Hawkins" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: www.mochiads.com, "Tower Bloxx: Build Your Town!", HuffPost, 2009-03-12; Lunden, "Digital Chocolate Downsizing? Founder Trip Hawkins Out As CEO; Reports Of Layoffs, Marc Metis As Interim CEO", TechCrunch, May 27, 2012 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Trip Hawkins" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Adams, "Trip Hawkings added to Hall of Fame", IGN, January 31, 2005 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Trip Hawkins" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: HRUBY, "OTL:The Franchise", ESPN (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  6. HRUBY, "OTL:The Franchise", ESPN. facts only, no text reused. espn.com
  7. Wikipedia, "Trip Hawkins" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The "Other" System", IDG, December 1995, p. 204–6 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Lunden, "Digital Chocolate Downsizing? Founder Trip Hawkins Out As CEO; Reports Of Layoffs, Marc Metis As Interim CEO", TechCrunch, May 27, 2012. facts only, no text reused. techcrunch.com
  9. Wikipedia, "Trip Hawkins" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: William M. ‘Trip’ Hawkins III interview from SmartComputing.com (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Lien, "EA founder believes Extreme Reality holds key to better motion control", Polygon, Oct 11, 2012. facts only, no text reused. polygon.com
  11. Handrahan, "Trip Hawkins joins mobile esports platform Skillz", GamesIndustry.biz, 15 December 2014. facts only, no text reused. gamesindustry.biz

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Trip Hawkins (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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