CEO van EA verlaat het bedrijf

De CEO van EA, John Riccitiello, heeft aangekondigd dat hij de game-uitgever zal verlaten. Electronic Arts is een van de grotere spelers op de markt, maar kampte sinds eind 2009 met tegenvallende cijfers. Riccitiello neemt nu zijn verantwoordelijk op als grote baas door een stap achteruit te zetten.

John Riccitiello stond al sinds 2007 aan het hoofd van EA en heeft de voorbije jaren veel kritiek te verduren gekregen van gamers en investeerders. Riccitiello heeft zich altijd gepresenteerd als een manager/gamer en onderscheidde zich daarmee van de topmannen bij andere grote uitgevers als Ubisoft. John Riccitiello is ook verantwoordelijk voor de verdeling van EA in vier divisies: EA Games, EA Sports, EA Casual, en The Sims.

Electronic Arts kreeg zware klappen toen de financiële crisis toesloeg in 2008 en is daar financieel nooit meer te boven gekomen, ondanks succesgames als de Battlefield-reeks. John Riccitiello zegt zelf dat hij de volle verantwoordelijkheid neemt voor de huidige toestand van EA en neemt daarom ontslag. 30 maart wordt zijn laatste dag bij de uitgever. Hij zal tijdelijk vervangen worden door Larry Probst.

Hieronder vind je de afscheidsbrief van John Riccitiello aan zijn medewerkers bij EA:

 

To Everyone at EA –

I am writing with some tough news. I have resigned my position as EA's CEO. I will be around for a couple of weeks, and I hope to have the chance to say goodbye to many of you. Larry Probst will be stepping in as Executive Chairman to help smooth the transition. Larry first hired me at EA in 1997 and he was an incredible leader for the company during the 16 years he served as CEO. While he will continue to be the Chairman of the US Olympic Committee, he will also provide leadership for EA until a permanent CEO is appointed.

My decision to leave EA is really all about my accountability for the shortcomings in our financial results this year. It currently looks like we will come in at the low end of, or slightly below, the financial guidance we issued to the Street, and we have fallen short of the internal operating plan we set one year ago. And for that, I am 100 percent accountable.

Personally, I think we've never been in a better position as a company. You have made enormous progress in improving product quality. You are now generating more revenue on fewer titles by making EA's games better and bigger. You've navigated a rapidly transforming industry to create a digital business that is now approximately $1.5 billion and growing fast. The big investments you've made in creating EA's own platform are now showing solid returns. I believe EA is alone in mastering the challenges of building a platform for our games and services – a platform that will provide a more direct relationship with our consumers. You are number one in the fastest growing segment, mobile, with incredible games like The Simpsons: Tapped Out, Real Racing 3, Bejeweled, SCRABBLE and Plants v. Zombies. You have worked to put EA in a position to capture industry leadership on the next generation of consoles; and I believe two of our titles – Battlefield and FIFA – will be among the top few franchises in the entire industry. And the industry's most talented management team – Frank, Rajat, Peter, Gaby, Andrew, Patrick, Blake, Joel and Jeff — are certain to lead the company to a successful future.

I remain an incredible fan of EA and everyone who works in our world – from Stockholm to Seoul, Orlando to Edmonton, Guildford, Geneva, Cologne, Lyon, Bucharest, Montreal, Austin, Salt Lake, LA and, of course, EARS. My hope is that my travels and yours allow us the opportunity to talk more in the months and years to come.

In a few weeks, I will be leaving EA physically. But I will never leave emotionally. I am so incredibly proud of all the great things you have done, and it has been my honor to lead this team these past six years. After March, I will be cheering wildly for EA from the sidelines.

John