EA CEO John Riccitiello submitted his resignation, effective March 30, the video game company announced Monday. In a blog post on the company’s website, executive chairman Larry Probst said the Board of Directors will immediately begin a search inside and outside the company for Riccitiello’s successor. Check out the Press release below. Electronic Arts Announces Change in Executive Leadership Larry Probst Appointed Executive Chairman, Effective Immediately Company Updates 2013 Fiscal Outlook REDWOOD CITY, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) today announced that John Riccitiello will step down as Chief Executive Officer and as a member of the Board of Directors, effective March 30. The Board has appointed Larry Probst as Executive Chairman to ensure a smooth transition and to lead EA’s executive team while the Board conducts a search for a permanent CEO. The Board will consider internal and external candidates with the assistance of a leading executive search firm. Mr. Probst has played a leadership role…
John Riccitiello
EA Has Invested Half a BILLION Dollars in Star Wars
In a story at MarketWatch.com, we learn a bit of interesting news about SWTOR. It’s an article/interview about Electronic Arts’ CEO Riccitiello, 52, but contains a fun tidbit about the BioWare hit of the year- SWTOR. According to the source: In a Dec. 23 statement, EA boasted that “The Old Republic” had attracted more than 1 million registered subscribers in just three days on the market. Doug Creutz of Cowen & Co. says that Riccitiello’s tenure as CEO has featured misfires along with its successes but that “Star Wars” may represent his biggest bet of all, considering both the purchase price of BioWare/Pandemic and the development costs poured into the game since then. “I think it’s safe to say that the total all-in investment in ‘Star Wars’ is probably approaching half a billion dollars,” Creutz says. “EA has minimized its risks as much as it can on this bet, but…
EA’s EA2D Studio Now ‘BioWare San Francisco’
EA’s EA2D Studio is now ‘BioWare San Francisco’! Electronic Arts made the announcement to Gamasutra confirming that it is now a division of BioWare and confirmed the new name. EA2D Studio was originally founded as a small browser-based site designed for casual titles. Its goal was to create high-quality social games that allowed devoted gamers to connect over different platforms, which include but are not limited to, playing online and on mobile devices. EA2D studio is known for creating “Mirror’s Edge 2D” and the prominent “Dragon Age Legends”, in which Soren Johnson (Former Civilization series lead designer) helped EA2D studio design. They’re also responsible for developing the tactical game “RPG Dragon Age Journeys” and the platformer game “The Fancy Pants Adventures”, which was ported to both the “Xbox Live Arcade” and then to the “PlayStation Network”. This big move comes after some changes took place at the studio and executive…
Electronic Arts Q1 2012 Earnings Conference Call Live Blog
Today was the EA Q1 2012 Earnings Conference Call and we were interested in one thing- what they had to say about SWTOR. With this game being the pinnacle of the company at this time, you can guarantee they had a few things to say about it on the call. Here is an overview of the highlights of the call: John Riccitiello says that there were strong preorders for The Old Republic. He goes on to say, “Origin will scale quickly with Battlefield 3 and Star Wars: The Old Republic later this year.” Frank Gibeau says, “SWTOR targeted to launch in Holiday 2011, is able to ship with a variety of launch dates.” He adds to expect higher revenue from subscriptions for The Old Republic. John Riccitiello says, “We will launch SWTOR and battle to take a slice of the MMO market.” The conference calls move into the question and…
High Scale Beta at the end of June?
A conference call on June 14th between William Blair and company analysts and CEO of Electronic Arts John Riccitiello discussed beta testing for Star Wars: The Old Republic. Certain information had players questioning the betas and what this means for a launch date. Daniel Erickson already previously confirmed there will be no open beta before launch so what exactly does “high scale beta” mean? John Riccitiello stated “we’re in mid-scale beta, we’ve got a high scale beta at the end of June.” Riccitiello added “and only the foolish assume they know the outcome of a beta in terms of whether it’s a six week hit or not.”” Stephen Reid responds to John Riccitiello’s comments on the official forum: “Take a deep breath, everyone… Game Testing is currently ongoing for Star Wars: The Old Republic. This isn’t news – it’s been ongoing for quite a while. At different…
‘Star Wars’ vs. ‘World of Warcraft’ – the gauntlet is thrown
When it comes to “Star Wars: The Old Republic,” the folks at EA who are publishing the massively multiplayer online game clearly have their eyes on a very particular prize: “World of Warcraft” and its 12 million subscribers. EA wants those players to leave their online universe of orcs and elves for a new online universe filled with Sith and Jedi. And they seem to feel confident players are going to do so. And as “The Old Republic” launch nears, the game publisher seems to be stepping up the “WoW” vs. “Star” Wars” trash talk. In an interview with Industry Gamers this week, Frank Gibeau, head of EA Games, suggested that “WoW” is an aging game and that playing it can feel like tending to a “shopping list.” “When I play ‘World of Warcraft,’ you go and get your quests, and you go and do your quests, but it feels…
The Old Republic To Be Released This Fall?
According to mcvuk.com, the long awaited release of Star Wars: The Old Republic is now schedule for September 2011, not Spring 2011. This is not confirmed by Bioware yet though, but looking at the current state of beta, I’m not surprised if it’a true. Still I have to say that I am very sad that I can’t get it now; well this does give me a bit more time to buy a new gaming computer for all the new specs my computer now can barely dish out. Still, I am very sad. I am going to play the heck out of this game unlike WoW I will have hundreds of really powerful characters by the time BioWare releases something new and with that I won’t have a life anymore, lol. This game is predicted that it will last as long as the rest of the decade. I’m happy for all of us, Yay!