EA Orlando is an American video game company located in Orlando, Florida. It was started in 1994 and was originally called Tiburon Entertainment. In 1998, Electronic Arts bought Tiburon Entertainment and renamed the company EA Tiburon. Earlier, in May 1996, Electronic Arts had bought part ownership in Tiburon, and the agreement said Tiburon would make games only for Electronic Arts.

The studio is most famous for creating the Madden NFL game series. Other games made by the studio include NCAA Football, NFL Street, NASCAR, and NFL Head Coach. In late 2006, Tiburon released a game called Superman Returns, which was based on the movie of the same name. Starting with the 2008 edition, EA Tiburon took over making the Tiger Woods PGA Tour series from another Electronic Arts studio called EA Salt Lake.

History

Tiburon Entertainment was started by John Schappert, Jason Andersen, and Steve Chiang. They were all engineers who worked at a company called Visual Concepts in Cincinnati, Ohio. After leaving Visual Concepts, Schappert and Andersen moved to Florida to start a new video game software development studio. In 1994, Tiburon Entertainment was officially created in Orlando, Florida, by Schappert and Andersen, with Steve Chiang joining as an investor. The name "Tiburon" comes from the Spanish word "tiburón," which means shark. At first, Tiburon had only three employees and 900 square feet of office space. However, it became known for creating programs for large gaming companies like EA.

Tiburon developed its own video game ideas and software, as well as games based on ideas from Electronic Arts and other companies. EA first hired Tiburon to create the game Madden NFL '96 for the Super NES and Genesis systems. Tiburon later made Madden games for newer systems and added 3D features to the games. They continued making Madden games until newer systems like Sony's PlayStation were introduced. Tiburon eventually became responsible for developing the Madden video game series, starting with Madden NFL '96 and NCAA Football.

Other games Tiburon created include College Football USA 97, Madden NFL 97, Soviet Strike, and Slam: Shaq vs. the Legends. These games were released on consoles like the Genesis, Super NES, Sega Saturn, and PlayStation.

EA and Tiburon had a long relationship that began when Tiburon was first created. While Tiburon made programs for other companies, it had a strong connection to EA because of the work done on the Madden series by Schappert, Andersen, and Chiang, who had previously worked with EA at Visual Concepts.

In April 1996, EA became a minority investor in Tiburon, owning about 19.9% of the company. On May 7, 1996, EA purchased additional shares in Tiburon. As part of this deal, Tiburon became an exclusive developer for EA, creating games for the PlayStation, Sega Saturn, and other systems. In 1996, Tiburon signed a contract with EA to help develop a new college football game, which became NCAA Football 98 (released in 1997). With this investment, Tiburon moved from its 4,000-square-foot office in Longwood to an 8,600-square-foot office in Maitland Center.

The partnership between EA and Tiburon grew stronger as Tiburon continued to create popular games for EA. This led to EA buying Tiburon on April 2, 1998. After the purchase, Tiburon was rebranded as EA Tiburon and became a fully owned part of Electronic Arts. EA Tiburon was responsible for managing the Madden franchise and continues to do so today. In 2005, EA acquired another game developer called Hypnotix and combined its operations with Tiburon. EA also built a new 25,000-square-foot creative center to house Tiburon's employees. At first, EA Tiburon was part of EA Sports, but after recent changes in the company's structure, it became an independent division.

Today, EA Tiburon is one of the largest video game studios in Florida, with over 500 employees. In recent years, EA has added other development teams to EA Tiburon, including Hypnotix, after acquiring smaller game companies. The Maitland headquarters of EA Tiburon has undergone renovations and expansions to improve workspace movement and encourage teamwork. The building now includes updated infrastructure and video-game themed artwork on each floor.

In late 2019, EA Tiburon announced it would move its headquarters from the Maitland Center to the Creative Village in Downtown Orlando. The new headquarters opened in March 2022.

Games developed by Tiburon

• Madden NFL video game series (1995 to the present)
• PGA Tour video game series (2007 to the present)
• NCAA/College Football video game series (1998 to 2013, 2024 to the present)

• EA Sports Fantasy Football video game
• NBA Live video game series (2010 to 2018)
• EA Sports MMA video game (2010)
• EA Sports NASCAR video game series (2002 to 2009)
• NFL Head Coach video game series (2006 to 2008)
• NFL Tour video game (2008)
• EA Sports GameShow video game (2008)
• NFL Street video game series (2004 to 2006)
• Arena Football video game series (2006 to 2007)
• NASCAR SimRacing video game (2005)
• Soviet Strike video game (Sega Saturn version)
• Nuclear Strike video game (PC version)
• MechWarrior 3050 video game
• Superman Returns video game
• Superman Returns: Fortress of Solitude video game
• GoldenEye: Rogue Agent video game (Nintendo DS version)
• Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure video game