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Don Mattrick

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Don Mattrick
Mattrick in 2010
Born
Donald Allan Mattrick

(1964-02-13) February 13, 1964 (age 60)[1]
Vancouver, Canada
Years active1982–present
Known forFormer CEO of Zynga

Donald Allan Mattrick OBC (born February 13, 1964) is a Canadian businessman who co-founded Distinctive Software (DSI) in 1982 in Vancouver at age 17, while graduating from high school and attending Simon Fraser University where he studied business and managerial economics. DSI became the largest independent game developer in North America and was then acquired by Electronic Arts in 1991 who renamed it to EA Vancouver and later EA Canada. Mattrick worked at EA Canada for 15 years as the president of Worldwide Studios.[2] In 2007, he joined Microsoft as the president of the Interactive Entertainment Business, famous for developing Kinect for Xbox 360.[3] From 2013 to 2015, he then became the CEO of publicly trading social gaming company Zynga.[4]

Career

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Distinctive Software

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Main article: Distinctive Software

In 1982, Mattrick and Jeff Sember co-founded Distinctive Software (DSI), creating the video game Evolution on the Apple II. Sember sold his equity stake in DSI to Mattrick in 1986. Paul Lee joined the board in the same year. In 1989, Paul Lee invested in DSI, becoming the only other shareholder, also taking on a full-time operating role as both the CFO and COO. In 1991, Mattrick was the chairman and the majority owner of DSI while Canadian businessman Tarrnie Williams was CEO. In the prior year, DSI had received two unsolicited acquisition offers. Instead of accepting, Mattrick chose to reach out to Trip Hawkins, founder of Electronic Arts, to discuss synergies between the two companies, leading to the subsequent acquisition of DSI by Electronic Arts (EA) which was accomplished through a pooling of interest transaction in July 1991. Prior to the acquisition, DSI was the largest independent game developer in North America and had 75 full-time employees working on various projects with companies like Konami, Broderbund, IBM, Disney, Mindscape and Accolade.[5] DSI was best known for developing racing and sports games for the Amiga, Apple II, Commodore 64, and PC DOS platforms.[6]

Electronic Arts

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Mattrick worked in a variety of leadership positions at Electronic Arts and, prior to leaving the company in 2005,[7] was the president of Worldwide Studios for Electronic Arts where he oversaw EA's global studios and research and development in several major sites, including Redwood Shores, California (Silicon Valley), EALA in Los Angeles, EA Tiburon in Florida, EA Canada in Vancouver, British Columbia, and Montreal, and EA UK in Chertsey, England.

Microsoft

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Following his retirement from Electronic Arts in February 2007, Mattrick was asked by Robert J. Bach to be an external advisor to the Entertainment and Devices Division. In July 2007, Mattrick officially joined Microsoft as a senior vice president overseeing the Xbox 360 and PC gaming businesses,[8] with his oversight apparently leading to an increase in video game installations and Xbox LIVE subscriptions.[9][10]

Mattrick is also largely credited for his work in developing Kinect for Xbox 360. Mattrick unveiled Kinect under the code-name of "Project Natal" at E3 2009 on stage with Steven Spielberg.[11][12]

In October 2010, Mattrick was promoted to president of the Interactive Entertainment Business, overseeing a range of consumer businesses including Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE, Kinect, Music, and Video, as well as PC and mobile interactive entertainment.

In August 2011, Fortune magazine named Mattrick one of the "Smartest People in Tech 2011", and cited his role in developing and releasing Kinect.[13] In May 2012, Mattrick was named one of CNN Money's top 10 brilliant technology visionaries.[14]

On May 21, 2013, Mattrick unveiled the new Xbox One, the successor to the Xbox 360, an all-in-one entertainment system. He later dismissed criticisms of the system's "always on" internet connection by saying "We have a product for people who aren't able to get some form of connectivity; it's called Xbox 360."[15]

Mattrick left Microsoft on July 1, 2013, to join Zynga as CEO and would eventually be replaced by Phil Spencer as Head of Xbox in 2014.[16][17]

In Power On: The Story of Xbox, a web series documentary on Xbox released in December 2021, Mattrick commented on the Xbox One's controversial and unpopular launch strategy, admitting that the Xbox One reveal event was too focused on TV features and that he and his team "could have done a better job of reassuring people that we were committed to excellence in gaming."[18]

Zynga

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On July 1, 2013, it was confirmed that Mattrick was leaving Microsoft to join social game company Zynga as CEO.[19] Wall Street investors thought positively of Mattrick's appointment[20] and Zynga's shares greatly rose the day the news was made public.[21] On his first quarterly financial earnings call with Zynga, on July 25, 2013, Mattrick predicted volatility for the company over the coming 6 months to one year, stating a need to "get back to basics" and "take a longer term view on our products and business."[22]

By 2015, Zynga was struggling to achieve the success in the mobile market they intended, largely seen in their falling and stagnating stock price.[23] On April 8, 2015, it was announced that Mattrick would immediately resign as Zynga's CEO, and was replaced by founder Mark Pincus. Regarding Mattrick, Pincus said, "He got us in the game in mobile in a big way, and I'm appreciative of that."[24]

MdGB Capital

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Mattrick is the co-founder and co-president of MdGB Capital, a private company that manages a group assets and operating companies throughout North America and serves as an adviser to many high tech ventures such as Photonic, Nordeus, Dapper Labs and Hivestack.

Honours and awards

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Mattrick was made a member of the Order of British Columbia in 2024.[25] He is the 2017 Distinguished Entrepreneur of the Year Gustavson School of Business at the University of Victoria,[26] the 2005 Honorary Fellow University of British Columbia's Sauder School of Business[27] and a 1999 honorary Doctor of Laws at Simon Fraser University.[28] Mattrick was the Co-Chair of the British Columbia's Premier's Technology Council from 2016 to 2018[29] and serves since 2019 on the board of directors of the Vancouver Prostate Centre.[30]

References

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  1. ^ "Don Mattrick". Giant Bomb. Archived from the original on July 19, 2015. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
  2. ^ Don Mattrick corporate bio at Zynga.com
  3. ^ "Microsoft Announces New Leadership Promotions". Microsoft. Archived from the original on November 20, 2010. Retrieved November 5, 2010.
  4. ^ Aditya Dey. "Don Mattrick is the new CEO of Zynga, offered $50mn Salary Package". techstake.org. Archived from the original on July 9, 2013. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
  5. ^ Geoff Mair interview with Don Mattrick, March 1, 2017.
  6. ^ "Don Mattrick • Graphics Interface". Graphics Interface. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
  7. ^ Gabriel Madway. "Electronic Arts realigns management". MarketWatch. Archived from the original on December 27, 2013. Retrieved July 24, 2013.
  8. ^ "Don taking over for Peter Moore". Microsoft. Archived from the original on December 23, 2009. Retrieved November 10, 2010.
  9. ^ Steve Ballmer email to employees on Don Mattrick transition Archived July 2, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. Microsoft.com (July 1, 2013). Retrieved on 2013-07-14.
  10. ^ "Microsoft Investor Relations – Press Releases". microsoft.com. Microsoft. Archived from the original on June 29, 2013. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
  11. ^ "Microsoft unveils hands-free gaming". USA Today. Archived from the original on July 27, 2009. Retrieved August 30, 2017.
  12. ^ "E3 Expo 2009: Don Mattrick". Microsoft. Archived from the original on October 4, 2010. Retrieved November 5, 2010.
  13. ^ "Smartest People in Tech 2011". Archived from the original on September 30, 2011. Retrieved August 9, 2011.
  14. ^ "10 brilliant technology visionaries". fortune. Archived from the original on January 3, 2013. Retrieved January 15, 2013.
  15. ^ "Gamers Without Internet Can Stick With Xbox 360, Says Microsoft". IGN. June 12, 2013. Archived from the original on September 7, 2013. Retrieved August 17, 2013.
  16. ^ Graser, Marc (July 1, 2013). "Don Mattrick Leaves Microsoft's Xbox for Zynga". Variety. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
  17. ^ Graser, Marc (March 31, 2014). "Microsoft Game Studios' Phil Spencer Takes Charge of Xbox". Variety. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
  18. ^ Xbox, Pure (December 13, 2021). "Don Mattrick Discusses The Failures Of The 2013 Xbox One Launch". Pure Xbox. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
  19. ^ Crossley, Rob. "Confirmed: Xbox One boss Don Mattrick 'resigns'". Computer and Video Games. Archived from the original on July 4, 2013. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
  20. ^ Steven Russolillo. "Zynga's New Chief Gets Thumbs Up on Wall Street". WSJ. Archived from the original on March 13, 2016. Retrieved August 4, 2017.
  21. ^ David Lieberman (July 1, 2013). "Zynga Shares Zoom After It Taps Former Microsoft Entertainment Exec To Be CEO"., Deadline New York.
  22. ^ Wall Street Journal, "Zynga's Outlook Troubles Investors", July 25, 2013
  23. ^ Why CEO Don Mattrick is done at Zynga Archived February 7, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, VentureBeat
  24. ^ Takahashi, Dean (April 8, 2015). "Zynga replaces CEO Don Mattrick with a familiar face — founder Marc Pincus". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on April 14, 2015. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
  25. ^ "35 years of excellence: 12 outstanding individuals honoured" (Press release). Government of British Columbia. August 5, 2024.
  26. ^ "UVic selects Don Mattrick as distinguished entrepreneur of year". Times Colonist. January 18, 2017. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
  27. ^ "Past Honorary Degree Recipients". www.sfu.ca. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
  28. ^ Secretariat, Intergovernmental Relations. "Members of the Order of British Columbia: M–O - Province of British Columbia". www2.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
  29. ^ Secretariat, Intergovernmental Relations. "Members of the Order of British Columbia: M–O - Province of British Columbia". www2.gov.bc.ca. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
  30. ^ "Don Mattrick appointed to VPC Board of Directors | Vancouver Prostate Centre". www.prostatecentre.com. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
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