Electronic Arts, persistently embattled publisher of games–that–are–actually–pretty–fun, has announced that CEO John Riccitiello will be leaving his position and ceasing service on EA's Board of Directors.
The news comes hot on the heals of SimCity, an unequivocal marketing disaster requiring an always-online connection to EA's servers. Of course, that claim has been made completely false over the past few days thanks to the work of modders and hackers intent on setting the game free for anyone willing to pirate it.
Larry Probst, EA's current Chairman of the Board, will step into the position while the company conducts the search for a new CEO (he's already got 16 years of experience in the position). Whoever gets the job will have plenty of work in front of them.
Riccitiello said in a statement that "EA is an outstanding company with creative and talented employees, and it has been an honor to serve as the Company's CEO. I am proud of what we have accomplished together, and after six years I feel it is the right time for me to pass the baton…."
Riccitiello helped the company develop and popularize the Project $10 initiative, a method by which the company would reap revenue from used game sales by charging used game purchasers a fee to access key features, including multiplayer. Obviously Project $10 slowly became Project $15 Online Pass and then the Origin service and so on. I don't blame Riccitiello from stepping away from the position, especially after the vehement criticism of these practices by nearly every gamer on the internet, ever.
Is this an appropriate time to revisit our Tell GR: "How would you run EA?" Maybe a GameRevolution commenter can take over as CEO?
