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. DSI was best known for developing racing and sports games for the Amiga, Apple II, Commodore 64, and PC DOS platforms.
Electronic Arts Mattrick worked in a variety of leadership positions at Electronic Arts and, prior to leaving the company in 2005, 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 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, with his oversight apparently leading to an increase in video game installations and Xbox LIVE subscriptions. 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. 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. In May 2012, Mattrick was named one of CNN Money's top 10 brilliant technology visionaries. 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." 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. 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."
Zynga On July 1, 2013, it was confirmed that Mattrick was leaving
Microsoft to join social game company
Zynga as CEO. Wall Street investors thought positively of Mattrick's appointment and Zynga's shares greatly rose the day the news was made public. 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." By 2015, Zynga was struggling to achieve the success in the mobile market they intended, largely seen in their falling and stagnating stock price. 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."
MdGB Capital 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==