EA

Biodata

History

EA approached Ethan Vale for consultation on a war game, offering a substantial fee and a profit share. Ethan Vale proposed a World War I multiplayer title built around class-based cooperation, trench and gas warfare, cavalry, tanks, biplanes, airships, and other period weaponry. EA hired him as chief advisor and publicly announced the collaboration 151 152.

The company’s staff initially struggled under Ethan Vale’s standards. Substandard models, code, and game feel were repeatedly returned for revision; employees came to fear hearing the word “revise.” After a month of close supervision, EA staff celebrated Ethan Vale’s approval of their revised models as though they had defeated a boss 154 157.

After Ethan Vale approved its work during the New Year holiday, EA released a 4K Battlefield 1 trailer simultaneously through its own, Steam’s, and Microsoft’s official channels. The company then built anticipation through a succession of trailers, though players grew frustrated when EA promoted an unfinished game without announcing a release date 165 180 181.

During the final thirty-day countdown to Battlefield 1, EA’s website repeatedly crashed under player traffic. Ethan Vale warned the company to secure permanent server capacity before launch; despite its financial strain, EA rented Microsoft servers and later established its own infrastructure 220 221 240.

Battlefield 1 released to millions of players and later exceeded ten million concurrent users. EA credited Ethan Vale after implementing his suggested no-UI mode, which players praised for strengthening the game’s immersion 228 231 234.

When cheats began overwhelming matches, EA initially underestimated the problem. After Ethan Vale ordered every issue resolved within a day and Sprout Studio banned implicated players across its platform, EA traced offenders, banned more than 100,000 cheaters, and marked their hardware to prevent repeat access 242.

EA later developed Apex Legends under Black Star’s design credit. Although it initially planned a slower schedule, it released an early trailer and announced a mid-September launch date in order to remain visible amid increasing competition 491 492 493 494.

Operations & Development Practices

Quality Control

EA’s development process changed substantially under Ethan Vale’s supervision.

• Submitted work was repeatedly returned until it met his standards for models, code, game feel, and refinement 154 157.
• Employees ultimately accepted the slower pace because each revision was carried out without complaint, even when a resubmission failed again 167.
• EA’s staff came to regard Ethan Vale’s approval as a major achievement, calling it “the Demon King’s approval” 157.

Marketing

EA became known for aggressively promoting Battlefield 1 long before release.

• Released more than a dozen trailers, each emphasizing realistic war imagery and cinematic presentation 217 222.
• Used a thirty-day website countdown supplemented by rotating in-game footage from different soldiers’ perspectives 220 221 222.
• Its countdown page drew tens of millions of daily clicks and prompted rival companies to reconsider whether Battlefield 1 was merely a Sprout Studio “castoff” 222.
• The company’s tendency to release trailers before a game was complete became an established joke among players and later resurfaced with Apex Legends 181 492.

Live-Service Management

• EA initially rented Microsoft server capacity because it lacked funds for permanent servers, then built its own infrastructure after Battlefield 1’s success 221 240.
• It implemented the optional no-UI mode at Ethan Vale’s request despite initially not understanding why a game would remove player-facing information 234.
• Following the cheating crisis, EA carried out mass bans and hardware marking after Sprout Studio’s broader anti-cheat punishment demonstrated the consequences of inaction 242.

Games

Relationships

• Ethan Vale / Black Star / Old Thief — Chief advisor and design collaborator for Battlefield 1; his exacting reviews reshaped EA’s development standards. He later received game-designer credit for Apex Legends 152 157 234 494.
• Sprout Studio — Partner organization whose design expertise and anti-cheat enforcement directly affected EA’s projects. EA is sometimes called “Little Sprout” because of this association 242 453.
• Microsoft — Provided temporary server capacity for Battlefield 1 at Ethan Vale’s request before EA completed its own server infrastructure 221 240.
• Ubisoft — Longtime industry rival. Their relationship remained combative after Ubisoft partnered with Sprout Studio, but gradually shifted toward mutual recognition and occasional cooperation 227 228 444.
• Players — EA’s trailers and Battlefield 1 attracted intense player support, but its early promotional practices also made it a target of frustration and the nickname “Dog EA” 180 181 417.

Notable Quotes

“We will always believe in Mr. Black Star.” 224

“EA is the greatest under heaven, Sprout is the sky.” 226