In the midst of media storms surrounding the respective launches of Real Racing 3 and SimCity, Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello has he's leaving the publisher.
According to Riccitiello's resignation letter, his departure was triggered by a failure to meet its financial targets, though he also claimed he was "extremely proud" of the firm's transition to digital games services.
Passing the baton
"EA is an outstanding company with creative and talented employees, and it has been an honour to serve as the Company's CEO," stated Riccitiello.
"I am proud of what we have accomplished together, and after six years I feel it is the right time for me pass the baton and let new leadership take the Company into its next phase of innovation and growth.
"I remain very optimistic about EA's future there is a world class team driving the Company's transition to the next generation of game consoles."
That digital switchover has both seen the launch of EA's multiplatform games service Origin, and a focus on microtransactions in its mobile releases, such as Real Racing 3.
Indeed, Riccitiello's departure comes a day after EA issued an infographic proclaiming the launch of Firemonkey's iOS racer - the first in the series to be free-to-play a success, though some commentators remain unconvinced.
Moore Moore Moore
In Riccitiello's place comes former EA CEO and president Larry Probst effectively immediately, though Probst will only serve as executive chairman until the company finds a longterm replacement.
"We thank John for his contributions to EA since he was appointed CEO in 2007, especially the passion, dedication and energy he brought to the Company every single day," said Probst.
"John has worked hard to lead the company through challenging transitions in our industry, and was instrumental in driving our very significant growth in digital revenues. We appreciate John's leadership and the many important strategic initiatives he has driven for the Company.
"We have mutually agreed that this is the right time for a leadership transition."
Commentators have been quick to peg EA's COO Peter Moore who has previously served as president of Sega of America and corporate VP of Microsoft's entertainment division as the favourite to take over, though the company itself hasn't set a deadline for any announcement.
[source: EA]
News
With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font.
Related Articles
News
May 8th, 2024
Q4 FY24 was EA’s strongest for mobile, but it still only earned them $307 million
Top Stories
Feature
May 17th, 2024
New release roundup: The best new mobile games from a battle royale to a console classic remake
Feature
May 16th, 2024
Behind the scenes: How adding sandwich offers to an idle merge game boosted three metrics at once
Events
Digital Dragons | Europe | May 19th |
GamesBeat Summit 2024 | North America | May 20th |
Mobidictum Meetup Tallinn May 2024 | Europe | May 21st |
Nordic Game Spring 2024 | Nordic | May 21st |
Impact 2024 - Indie Games | May 23rd | |
Morocco Gaming Expo | Africa | May 24th |
MomoCon 2024 | North America | May 24th |
Unreal Fest Gold Coast 2024 | Australasia | May 29th |
Popular Stories
Feature
May 14th, 2024
55 top mobile games in soft launch: Squad Busters, Battle Guys: Royale, Plants vs. Zombies 3, LEGO Hill Climb Adventures, and more
Feature
May 13th, 2024
Hot Five: Dubai's new Gaming Visa, April's mobile game charts, and Xbox studio closures
Interview
May 13th, 2024