EA Salt Lake was an American video game developer located in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was owned by video game publisher Electronic Arts (EA).
| Formerly | Headgate Studios (1992–2006) |
|---|---|
| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 1992 in Bountiful, Utah |
| Founder | Vance Cook |
| Defunct | April 2017 |
| Fate | Dissolved |
| Headquarters | , United States |
| Products | PGA Tour (2000–07) |
| Parent | Sierra On-Line (1996–1999) Electronic Arts (2006–2017) |
History
editEA Salt Lake was founded by the studio's president, Vance Cook, as Headgate Studios in 1992. As a veteran programmer for years at Access Software, the onetime premier developer of golf simulations, Cook had the experience and knowledge of how to create a rewarding golfing experience. Headgate's first product was PentaCalc, a scientific calculator for Windows.
In April 1996 the studio was purchased by Sierra On-Line. Initially, Headgate solely developed golf games published by Sierra, starting with Front Page Sports: Golf.[1] On February 22, 1999, Sierra announced a major restructuring of their company, and sold the rights of the original studio back to Cook as a new corporate entity.
In 2000, Headgate began publishing games through Electronic Arts. Headgate began developing Tiger Woods PGA Tour for the PC based on their existing golf engine. They were assigned by EA to develop the title on PlayStation 2 for the 2007 title, and Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2 and Wii for the 2008 title.
Headgate developed every Microsoft Windows version of the Tiger Woods PGA Tour EA Sports franchise from 2000 to 2007. Headgate's golf games consistently got high praise from industry reviewers and have won numerous industry awards.[2][3][4][5][6]
On December 1, 2006, Headgate Studios was acquired by Electronic Arts. Headgate was renamed EA Salt Lake. The studio's focus was redirected to developing games for Nintendo's new console, the Wii.[7]
On July 21, 2010, EA Salt Lake was moved from its home in Bountiful, Utah to a new state-of-the-art facility in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, United States.[8]
In 2011, EA Salt Lake was moved to the Maxis division of Electronic Arts, where it developed four expansion packs for the life simulation game The Sims 3.[9]
After the last expansion pack for The Sims 3, Into the Future, was released, a restructure to focus on mobile titles took place in January 2014.[10] EA closed down the studio in April 2017.[citation needed]
Games developed
editNotes
edit- ^ Assisted Wahoo Studios
References
edit- ^ "Front Page Golf review @ gamespot.com". Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2007-08-23.
- ^ PGA Championship Golf 2000 review Archived 2011-05-24 at the Wayback Machine from GameSpot
- ^ "Tiger Woods 2001 PGA Tour (PC) Review". Sports Gaming Network. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
- ^ Ivan Sulic (February 19, 2002). "Tiger Woods 2002 Review". IGN. News Corporation. Archived from the original on January 10, 2018. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
- ^ William Abner (November 1, 2002). "Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2003 Review". GameSpy. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
- ^ Fran Mirabella (September 23, 2003). "Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004". IGN. News Corporation. Archived from the original on July 29, 2015. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
- ^ Tor Thorsen (November 30, 2006). "EA forms Wii-centric studio". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on December 6, 2006. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
- ^ Tom Harvey (July 21, 2010). "Electronic Arts opens Salt Lake City office". The Salt Lake Tribune. Archived from the original on January 10, 2018. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
- ^ "TwitLonger tweet by SimGuruGraham". Archived from the original on August 7, 2021. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
- ^ "EA Salt Lake lays off part of staff". Archived from the original on August 7, 2021. Retrieved August 7, 2021.