Leading third party publisher and developer Electronic Arts experienced a corporate shakeup this past Monday morning when Larry Probst announced his resignation as CEO of the company. Filling his shoes is none other than John Riccitiello, EA’s former COO, who will assume the position on April 7. Riccitiello left EA in 2004 to become CEO of Elevation Partners, who oversaw the merger between BioWare and Pandemic. Probst will continue on with EA as Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors, continuing his 23 year tenure. Elevation has announced that Greg Richardson–former Senior Executive of BioWare/Pandemic super-company VG Holding, and the mastermind behind their merger–has been chosen as CEO of the company.
Speaking with GameSpot, EA’s new CEO says that he wilI "put original intellectual property on the top of the list of growth opportunities." This is a telling statement, as it seems Riccitiello is certainly aware of the attention EA has brought upon itself by flooding the market with games based on licenced properties and the many sequels the company releases (read: sequelitis). It’s very likely that his tenure will solidify the idea brought forth by new properties like Army of Two–and studios like EA Montreal–which have younger teams that focus on new games with innovative approaches to gameplay and characterization. Considering the amount of power EA holds over the market, let’s hope this comes to fruition.
