In this role he was responsible for a collection of consumer businesses including Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox One, Kinect, TV Music and Video services, Mediaroom, as well as PC and mobile interactive entertainment.

Prior to joining Microsoft in 2007, Mattrick served as the President of Worldwide Studios for Electronic Arts, where he worked for 25 years.

At the age of 17, Mattrick founded Distinctive Software, Inc. which was acquired by Electronic Arts in 1991 and subsequently became EA Canada.

With Jeff Sember, Mattrick co-founded Distinctive Software, Inc. (DSI) in 1982 at the age of 17.

He implemented games such as Test Drive for the Apple II, Commodore 64, and PC-DOS. DSI became known for racing and sports games until it was acquired by Electronic Arts in 1991.

Mattrick served in a variety of leadership positions at Electronic Arts and prior to his retirement in 2006, served as 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, Calif. (Silicon Valley), EALA in Los Angeles, EA Tiburon in Florida, EA Canada in Vancouver, British Columbia, and Montreal, and EA UK in Chertsey, England.

Mattrick was best known at EA for having helped bring to life such celebrated game franchises as Need for Speed, Harry Potter and The Sims.

ollowing his retirement from Electronic Arts in February 2007, Mattrick was asked by Robbie Bach to serve as an external advisor to the Entertainment and Devices Division. In July 2007, Mattrick then officially joined Microsoft as a Senior Vice President overseeing the Xbox 360 and PC gaming businesses.

In the six years since Mattrick has overseen the division, the Xbox 360 installed base has grown from 10 million to more than 76 million worldwide, while the Xbox LIVE membership has increased from 6 million to over 48 million.

At the same time Mattrick is recognized for moving the interactive business from an operating loss into a sustained and profitable business for the company.

Mattrick is also largely credited for his work in bringing Kinect for Xbox 360 to life. Mattrick unveiled Kinect under the code-name of “Project Natal” at E3 2009 on stage with Steven Spielberg.

Kinect which is a “controller-free gaming and entertainment experience” for Xbox 360 launched in November 2010 worldwide and sold over 8 million units in the first 60 days, making it the fastest-selling consumer electronic device, according to Guinness World Records.

By early March 2011, the device reached 10 million in device sales.

The product has been seen as highly innovative and has won numerous awards including being named one of the top inventions of the year from Time Magazine.

In October 2010, Mattrick was promoted to President of the Interactive Entertainment Business, a role that had him reporting directly to the CEO of Microsoft, Steve Ballmer. In this role he was responsible for a collection of consumer businesses including Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE, Kinect, Music, and Video, as well as PC and mobile interactive entertainment.

Fortune Magazine in August 2011 named Don Mattrick one of the “Smartest People in Tech 2011” largely highlighting his ability to turn around the Xbox business and drive new consumer innovations like Kinect.

In May 2012, Don 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.

On June 19, 2013, Mattrick wrote an update on Xbox Wire to address feedback on Xbox One digital content and connectivity.

This included the addition of two features to the console many consumers had asked for including "An internet connection will not be required to play offline Xbox One games" and "Trade-in, lend, resell, gift, and rent disc based games just like you do today".

These additions came at the expense of most of the features that had been heavily promoted as unique and innovative by Microsoft, including Family Game Sharing, Digital loaning and sale of games, and disk-less game play.

On July 1, 2013, it was confirmed that Mattrick was leaving Microsoft to join mobile game company Zynga as CEO

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