1. A SQUARE PEG IN A ROUND HOLE Four Years Building Cutting-Edge Online Games at EA Ben Cousins, General Manager, Easy (EA)

7. FOUR LIVE TITLES ALMOST TEN MILLION REGISTERED USERS PROFITABLE THIS YEAR’S NET REVENUE IN EIGHT FIGURES, DOUBLING NEXT YEAR

15. Kiddy MMOs Social games Console games Free-to-play We are here Core PC Games

18. Too many externalities

22. FREE TO PLAY GAMES MAKE GOOD MONEY DATA AND BENCHMARKS STRUCTURING A LIVE TEAM BUILD AN ITEM CATALOGUE MARKETING AND PR

25. Ask for forgiveness, not for permission

29. THREE MASSIVE MISTAKES I MADE

30. DIDN’T UNDERSTAND WEB DEVELOPMENT OUTSOURCED PLATFORM DEVELOPMENT NAÏVE ABOUT SERVICE OPERATIONS

31. DIDN’T UNDERSTAND WEB DEVELOPMENT

32. OUTSOURCED PLATFORM DEVELOPMENT DIDN’T WANT TO BE A WEB DEVELOPER DECIDED TO USE A CENTRAL-EA OPTION FROM TOP IT COMPANY PROJECT TOO BIG, AMBITIOUS DROPPED THE TECH, BUILT OUR OWN

33. NAÏVE ABOUT SERVICE OPERATIONS HOSTING, CUSTOMER SERVICE, PAYMENT INSTRUMENTS, STORE MANAGEMENT, MARKETING, COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT EA STUDIOS USED TO ONLY SPENDING MONEY ON DEVELOPERS IN THE END WE HIRED A (TOO SMALL) TEAM AND EXPANDED IT

34. EA LEARNING TO DO ONLINE

35. OVER- EMPHASIZING TECHNOLOGY IN PACKAGED-GOODS, DISTRIBUTION, PAYMENTS, MARKETING ARE SOLVED PROBLEMS. TECH GIVES YOU A QUALITY ADVANTAGE IN FREE-TO-PLAY, EA NEEDED TO BUILD AN INFRASTRUCTURE BEFORE PUSHING TECH

36. EA BOSSES EA STUDIOS EA INFRASTRUCTURE

37. Disruptive innovations can hurt successful, well managed companies that are responsive to their customers and have excellent research and development.

40. Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half

41. SENIOR PRODUCER LEAD DESIGNER ART DIRECTOR

42. You can’t plan for discovery

43. I’ll be there on the 9 th January 1909

44. Should be done by 4 th of June, 2015

46. EXPECT SOME SKEPTICISM… …EXCEPT FROM THE GUYS WHO HAD THE INITIAL IDEA, WHO WILL REALLY LOVE YOU… …BE CAREFUL IF YOU COULD BE USED TO MAKE MORE MONEY ELSEWHERE IN THE ORGANIZATION YOU KNOW NOTHING TO START WITH BECAUSE YOU KNOW NOTHING, JUST ASSUME EVERYTHING WILL BE VERY HARD AND VERY EXPENSIVE BE NIMBLE, ROLL YOUR OWN STUFF OR GRAB CHEAP STUFF. DON’T LOOK FOR A MAGIC SOLUTION THERE ARE NO EXTERNAL EXPERTS STAY ON TARGET! YOU CAN’T PLAN FOR DISCOVERY GET GREAT PEOPLE

47. ? BCOUSINS@EA.COM (I AM NOT INTERSTED IN USING YOUR ONLINE PAYMENT METHODS)