Riccitello rejoins EA as new CEO
Former Electronic Arts President and COO John Riccitello is returning to the publishing behemoth. On April 2, Riccitello will become the new chief executive officer, while current EA CEO Larry Probst will stay on as executive chairman of the board of directors.Probst held the position of Big Kahuna since 1991. During his time, the company has steadily solidified its position as supreme being in the world of game publishing, made seven more Madden iterations, saw firsthand the awe-inspiring financial powerhouse that is Will Wright's The Sims (and its subsequent sequels / expansion packs) and who at one point abstained from letting EA publish M-rated titles. (The latter position did not last: EA's first M-rated title was Quake III for the PlayStation 2 in 2000.)
Riccitello left EA in 2004 to co-found Elevation Partners with, among others, U2 singer Bono. Elevation Partners created a "super developer" through the purchase and merger of Pandemic and BioWare in late 2005.
Read [Wall Street Journal; subscription required]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Sensai @ Feb 26th 2007 7:07PM
Does this mean that EA might start producing quality over quantity? Or am I just being hopeful?
aaron @ Feb 26th 2007 7:16PM
Besides Mercs 2 for multiple platforms, when was the last time we heard news that wasn't negative from EA? This could be good news...
GhaleonQ @ Feb 26th 2007 11:24PM
Is anyone aware of how much power Electronic Arts' board has?
Industry_insider @ Feb 26th 2007 11:44PM
While John Riccitello might have gone on to create a super power house dev studio, this was also the guy responsible for the creation and downfall of EA.com otherwise known within the industry as EA.bomb due to its very short stint as an online studio that resulted in mass layoffs.
Not to say he couldnt come back and do well, he just doesnt have a very good rep during his previous employment at EA.
Powerlord @ Feb 27th 2007 12:03AM
Is it the largest? I was under the impression that Vivendi was staggeringly huge, too.