Ever since an exclusive gathering of startups and VCs at a Hampshire Hotel last year, Kristian Segerstrale, CEO and Co-founder of Playfish, has made no secret of his desire to take the social gaming fight into the very heart of the established gaming industry.
At the Founder’s Forum at the Four Seasons Hampshire last year, Segerstrale stood up in front of the assembled crowd and, as part of his presentation, showed a slide with a picture of a dinosaur, referring explicitly to Electronic Arts. He’s also reputed to have said he was going to “kill EA”.
Some months later he was still taking the same line, presenting to the Develop conference in Brighton, comapring EA to a dinosaur again, according to Jenova Chen, a Chinese developer who captured the moment on Flickr (above).
But clearly actions spoke louder than words, and Playfish’s rise to the top three of the social gaming pile has resulted in an exit to EA worth $300 million, or $400m with an earnout period.
That meant that today Segerstrale is describing EA as “the ideal opportunity”. Indeed it is, now.
But we’re being perhaps too unkind on the affable Segerstrale, who’s impressed just about everyone he’s met in the tech and gaming industry, especially in London where Playfish is based.
And yes, half the point of being an entrepreneur is ‘creative disruption’ – calling out an existing company in the space and telling them you can do better. Oh, and by the way, after I’ve showed you how, perhaps you’d like to talk?