Origin created worlds. EA shipped games. EA won.
"Trip Hawkins is the Antichrist."
The scene: a bar at a gaming convention in the late 1980s. The speaker: an executive at the computer game company Origin who today, no doubt, would prefer to remain anonymous.
Why the holy-fire view of William M. Hawkins III, founder of Electronic Arts? Because (as this exec explained) EA meant to win in the computer game business not only by making good games, but by preventing competitors from making good games too - by actively interfering with their ability to do business. As one example, EA had filed a frivolous lawsuit against Origin. Forced into a costly out-of-court settlement, Origin execs asked Trip Hawkins why he had allowed the suit; he responded, "This is just business. This is the way we're going to win."
A me questa cosa di vincere accoppando la concorrenza fa girare le balle. Passi nel settore informatico puro, delle persone grigie e incravattate... ma in un settore in cui la creatività, e la diversità dovrebbero essere pervasivi, abbiamo invece il solito modello di business dello squalo e del pesce piccolo.