Jul 18 2007, 06:29 AM, updated 19y ago
Via IGN
Peter Moore To Head Up EA Sports
Microsoft's Corporate VP now President of successful sports brand.
by Jeff Haynes
July 17, 2007 - Today, Electronic Arts announced the completion of its internal reorganization into four main labels, as well as its executive team which will be heading up each brand for the publisher. The restructuring move was designed to maximize the production of the company's games and help it drive growth for the four autonomous labels: Games, Casual Entertainment, The Sims and EA Sports. Frank Gibeau was announced as the President of the EA Games Label, Kathy Vrabeck will be the President of EA Casual Entertainment and Nancy Smith will be the President of The Sims. However, one of the surprises that was attached to today's announcement was that Peter Moore, the Corporate Vice President for Interactive Entertainment Business in Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices division, would be leaving his position as the leader of the Xbox 360 platform to take over as the President of the EA Sports brand.
As sports fans know, the EA Sports Brand is one of the strongest in the gaming industry, consistently producing titles like NBA Live, Tiger Woods PGA Tour, FIFA Soccer, Nascar and Madden NFL. Moore, who joined Microsoft in 2003 to oversee their gaming consoles, previously was the President and COO of SEGA of America, and helped launch the Dreamcast in 1999. However, apart from his experience in the gaming industry, Moore also has an extensive sports background, as both a Senior Vice President of marketing at Reebok International Ltd.and as the President of Patrick USA, the United States subsidiary of a French sportswear company.
A statement released by EA from Peter Moore stated the following, "The people at EA Sports have created one of the strongest brands in the entertainment industry and John Riccitiello is building an organization which will extend the company's leadership to new platforms and new audiences all over the world. I couldn't be more excited about joining EA and moving my family back to the San Francisco Bay Area."
Shortly after the news was announced, we spoke with John Riccitiello, the CEO of Electronic Arts about this announcement and what it could possibly mean for the future of his company.
IGN: This is a pretty large announcement -- not only the completion of the reorganization project, but also gaining Peter Moore to head up the EA Sports label. Can you tell us a bit more about how building the label model and recruiting Mr. Moore came about?
John Riccitiello: The whole point behind the label model is empowering teams that are closer to studios so that product can really be the middle of our universe. That means getting a stronger focus and accountability: as I describe it around here, 'zero cycle time on decisions.' One of the great opportunities we've got here is to build our business, especially now that we're in the growth part of our cycle, and I just wanted to get the best people I could find in the industry to drive that growth and try to put into place an organization that would be a heck of a lot faster. You wouldn't expect a company like EA to be the fastest company in the industry given our scale, and frankly, it is challenging when you're sort of one monolithic, global studio, to be fast.
The point here was to take and put together the best sports organization, the best core games label, the best casual teams and also do the same with The Sims, which is the single biggest brand in the industry, and we've now done that. Two internal folks -- long serving and extremely talented folks with Frank Gibeau for the games label and Nancy Smith on the Sims, and as you know, we've recruited Kathy Vrabeck to do casual for us, and now Peter Moore to do sports. This is about making better and more innovative games and building the business for the future, and getting the best people is a key part of that.
IGN: There aren't many people that are aware of Mr. Moore's sports past or sports history. Wouldn't this be somewhat of a different direction for him?
Riccitiello: Actually, it's not. In his youth, Peter was a professional soccer player. From there, he was at Reebok, and led all their sports marketing and ultimately was their global head of marketing in the sports business. Then he went to SEGA to compete against EA in sports, and this is the first time (the Microsoft stint) that he hasn't been in the direct line of fire on sports for his entire career since he was fifteen. He's the kind of guy that when you ask him, 'Who's the fitness trainer for the Chicago Bulls,' he'll know. He's beyond deep on sports: he knows all the commissioners, the folks that run the league, etc. It's been a key part of his life, and while I didn't necessarily need to get a guy or a gal that keeps track of box scores, it's good to get somebody that's that deep on sports.
IGN: Right. So has Mr. Moore expressed any plans or moves that he wants to take the studio in once he takes over the position?
Riccitiello: Well, we're announcing it today -- he doesn't start for a month, so other than having massive enthusiasm for the growth of the EA Sports business, which includes the product marketing and the business side in addition to the studio. Obviously, the acceptance of the job is a strong validation, but give him time - actually, let him start before you start quizzing him on the finer points of his strategy.
IGN: Finally, now that you've got Mr. Moore and Kathy Vrabeck to help head up some of your labels, where do you feel that the new reorganization will take EA?
Riccitiello: What I want is half of all the great games in the world to come from our company. That doesn't mean that I'm saying fifty percent market share; I'm want the stuff that people want to play the most to come from EA -- really the best products out there. We make a lot of them now, whether it's The Sims or what we do with Need for Speed, what's coming with Skate, what's coming with Boogie - I want to continue and build on that. If you gave me a half hour, I could give you a much more nuanced answer to that and exactly what it means to our business and our consumer perspective. But it's innovation and building new stuff that's more fun to play.
Shortly after the announcement of Moore's position at EA Sports, Microsoft took the opportunity to announce his replacement, Don Mattrick. A former president at EA himself, Mattrick will lead the Interactive Entertainment Business that includes both the Xbox and Games for Windows divisions. Robbie Bach, the president of the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft, responded to the news with the following statement, "Peter has contributed enormously to the games business since joining Microsoft in 2003 and we are sad to see him go. Since that time, he presided over the global launch of the Xbox 360, spearheaded a revitalized and rebranded Games for Windows business, and helped steer the console's ascent."
Sony also released its own statement regarding Peter Moore's new position from Jack Tretton, the President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America. "We wish Peter the best of luck in his new role at Electronic Arts and look forward to working with him. We have an outstanding relationship with EA and their sports products have been incredibly successful on all our platforms. I am sure this will continue with Peter now at the helm."
Peter Moore Leaving Microsoft., Head Up EA Sports!
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