…and takes a job at EA as the president of EA Sports. This came to me as a complete shock. It wasn’t more than a week ago that Moore was at E3 giving his extremely enthusiastic presentation and rocking out with Harmonix. He did look a bit tired though.
Given his experience (something like 20+ years?) and his natural maverick style I am betting that we will see some pretty interesting things coming from EA Sports over the next few months. As for why – we don’t really know yet. The reasons he gave for resigning, and before the announcement by EA, Moore said that he had decided to move his family back to the Bay Area (EA headquarters is there, duh!). To me this seems like a step down for Moore. As for who is replacing him at Microsoft? Don Mattrick, a formal president of EA, has taken the job.
Read More to view the entire EA press release.
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – July 17, 2007 – Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) today announced that Peter Moore has joined EA as President of the EA SPORTSâ„¢ Label. Moore joins EA from Microsoft Corporation where he served as corporate vice president of the Interactive Entertainment Business in the Entertainment and Devices Division, leading both the Xbox® and Games for Windows businesses. Moore begins at EA in September and will report to EA CEO John Riccitiello.
Mr. Moore’s appointment rounds out the leadership of John Riccitiello’s recent reorganization of EA into four autonomous Labels. Frank Gibeau serves as president of the EA Games Label; Kathy Vrabeck is president of EA Casual Entertainment; and Nancy Smith is president of The Simsâ„¢ Label.
“Peter Moore’s proven record of leadership in games and sports makes him a terrific fit for heading up EA SPORTS,” said EA CEO John Riccitiello. “As a partner at Microsoft and earlier, as a competitor, we’ve learned to respect his vision and leadership.”
“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,” said Peter Moore. “I couldn’t be more excited about joining EA and moving my family back to the San Francisco Bay Area.”
The EA SPORTS Label is the strongest brand in the games business with blockbuster franchises such as Madden NFL, NBA LIVE, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR®, FIFA Soccer, NASCAR®, and others. With Peter Moore’s leadership and the passion, creativity and dedication of its development teams, EA SPORTS is expected to become even stronger in the years to come. EA plans to expand the EA SPORTS experience with new content, new platforms, new services and deep online integration.
At Microsoft, Mr. Moore was the president of the Xbox and Games for Windows businesses as well as game development at Microsoft Game Studios. Mr. Moore joined Microsoft in January 2003, originally as the head of marketing for the Xbox and Games division, bringing with him more than 20 years of experience and leadership in consumer businesses. Prior to joining Microsoft, Mr. Moore was president and COO of SEGA of America, where he was responsible for overseeing SEGA’s video game business in North America. Before that, Mr. Moore was senior vice president of marketing at Reebok International Ltd., and earlier in his career, he was president of Patrick USA, the U.S. subsidiary of the popular French sportswear company, managing all the company’s marketing, sales, finance and distribution.