Hawkins' business talent was gradually revealed after EA was founded.

Perhaps, he was not a future-changer like George Bush, but his business philosophy and business thinking played a key role in making him stand out from the crowd of game companies in North America.

A few years ago, in the early days of EA's start, Hawkins traveled around computer exhibitions across the country, and when he met the right technician, he would persistently introduce EA to the other party and invite the other party to join.

And Hawkins is also the first game team to package game developers and teams as stars, packaging their game teams at any cost, so that players can recognize the works of these teams. As a result, some games have not yet been released, and the production team alone has attracted a large number of fans.

When competitors in the game industry only stayed at game production, EA began to study the packaging and operation of game products. Moreover, unlike Atari, which sells dog meat on the head of a sheep, EA's promotion of the packaging of game companies focuses on the team, theme and selling points of the game, so as not to over-package some games that are too garbage.

While other game companies have also begun to pay attention to marketing, EA has begun to engage in channel construction. Most of the profits it makes from game software are invested in the construction of sales channels across the United States. In the wake of the collapse of Atari's channel, EA began to re-establish the most extensive sales channel in the United States.

The professionalism and stability of this channel is even better than that of Atari's original game sales channel.

Constantly use the money earned from content to build platforms and channels. As a result, EA gradually has a sales network all over the United States. The publishing power of an ordinary game production company cannot be compared to EA. Therefore, many game studios have to sell themselves to EA and become game studios controlled by EA.

After taking advantage of capital and channels and controlling more and more game production teams, EA has also carried out brutal elimination and resource integration internally. Some game studios and subsidiaries will be laid off, or even shut down or merge studios if they can't make blockbuster titles, even if they have a brilliant track record in the past.

Although, because of this philistine business method, many gamers are indignant, thinking that EA has destroyed many game studios and made many high-quality games lose their follow-up. However, in general, EA is a game company with good momentum throughout the 90s ~ early 21st century.

Buying an EA is equivalent to buying dozens of small and medium-sized game production companies in the future. At least one-third of the future U.S. mid-to-high-end game production team will be bought.

In terms of the level of technology in game development and the degree of love for games, the game teams in North America actually do better than many teams in Asia. Many game developers are gamer-turned-developers, and it is precisely because of this that North America is prone to some super IPs!

Lin Qi's game platform is indispensable for the game production team in North America.

……

On April 28, 89, Lin Qi asked William Zhang to come to the door and go to EA to propose $500 million to acquire 50% of EA's shares, which surprised Hawkins.

After all, the current EA is only a small company, not to mention a valuation of $1 billion, even $100 million is too much!

Hawkins fell into deep thought, thinking about the difference between accepting and not accepting investment for the umpteenth time.

Just one day later, Hawkins gave his own answer and agreed to Lin Qi's request.

This matter was expected by Lin Qi, Hawkins's life was very interesting, even when EA was at its peak, he was also full of curiosity about other affairs, and did not think that he would have to be bound to EA for the rest of his life, which is why he proposed to need 50% equity, and if it was replaced by other game companies, he might not be able to agree.

And if other game companies receive an investment of $500 million, they are bound to grow into new giants in the American game industry. EA will miss this opportunity and lose the opportunity to become the leader of the North American game industry.

It is precisely because of this that Hawkins finally decided to accept the olive branch of the new entrepreneurship department.

……

On April 30th, Lin Qi and Hawkins sat down at a table and began a brief discussion about the future direction of the game.

"If, $500 million can be put on an EA account. Our future direction is for channel expansion, and EA plans to become the largest and most professional game publisher in the United States. Hawkins was quick to be honest with Lin Qi about his plans.

"Anything else?" Although Lin Qi is interested in distribution, he is more interested in content.

"Yes, we are ready to acquire more small and medium-sized game teams and studios. Hawkins thought for a while and said, "There are many game companies in the United States, and the strength of the developers is good, and there are many such game teams every year." We choose some teams that have made achievements, and buy them immediately! Some teams will make more blockbuster games in the future, and a small number of teams are losing money, and the fact that the overall rate of return can not be concealed, and it is definitely cost-effective to invest now. ”

"It's the right thing to do with buying small companies and studios, but I want to emphasize that in terms of management, I've seen the management model of EA, and I've made some achievements in recent years, but in terms of management, there are some shortcomings. "Lin Qi is colorful.

Hawkins immediately expressed interest in hearing it, and EA has not yet seriously figured out how to manage it. After all, EA is still very small right now.

"It is necessary to adapt to the situation, the game industry is special, even if EA has a capital advantage, the acquisition of small companies, the studio is subordinate, but it can't be a word, things like games should give creators more autonomy, instead of us telling them how to make games, if capital interferes too much in creation, a lot of creativity will be stifled. In addition, we can tolerate some game losses, but the losses must be valuable, for example, the player reputation is good, or the game is really innovative and can point the way to the future of the game industry. Then, if these groundbreaking works lose money, we can bear it, rather than forcing the team, and immediately make a money-making game to make up for the loss. ”

Lin Qi said sentence by sentence, and this remark is mainly to give a preventive shot to EA in the future.

Historically, EA only gradually accumulated capital in the 90s and was able to acquire more companies. And with the acquisition of more companies, it has become more and more disrespectful to the production team, and it has become pure management.

Of course, I have to mention that many of these acquired teams are very awesome.

Electronic Arts acquired Distinctive Softare in '91, and the long-running Need for Speed series was the work of this studio.

In 1995, EA acquired the British studio Bullfrog. The Bullfrog Company later developed Dungeon Keepers and its sequel.

In 1997, EA acquired Maxis Studios. At this time, Maxis had already launched the work "SimCity", and after being acquired by EA, he launched a series of simulation games such as "SimEarth", "SimAnt", and "SimCity 2000". The Sims, which came out later, was an even more successful series.

In 1998, EA acquired Westwood Studios, which soon developed Command & Conquer: Tiberium Day, with more Command & Conquer titles to follow. The Red Alert series is actually just a branch of the Destiny & Conquest series. However, in 2002, due to several consecutive years of game production losses, Westwood Studio was also disbanded in 2003, and the remaining employees, who did not leave, were relocated to other game studios.

Throughout EA's development, it has frequently acquired other small and medium-sized game studios. After the acquisition, these studios often interfered with the normal work of these studios, and even reorganized or disbanded the studios when they laid off employees, which eventually caused the studios to lose their original active working atmosphere, and the once successful game brands they were responsible for gradually declined. , the famous West Wood Studio, is a victim of EA's tyranny.

This is also Lin Qi said that there is a problem with the EA management system, in fact, it has not been exposed yet, and it is not until later that the EA company is already very large, and it is more and more difficult to return.

However, now that he is talking about the management system, Hawkins is still a little confused, but he also listened to Lin Qi's words, after all, Lin Qi is a big man, and he has the final say!