Microsoft bigwig Peter Moore resigned from the company today and will join Electronic Arts. Taking Moore’s place will be Don Mattrick, a former EA executive who has been serving with Microsoft as an adviser during the past few months.
Moore will stay with Microsoft until September 1st, though Mattrick will begin his new job at the end of this month. Moore’s new job with EA will be head of EA Sports, which releases some of EA’s biggest franchises including Madden, FIFA and Tiger Woods PGA Tour.
John Riccitiello, Chief Executive of EA, stated, "What I want to try to do is … look at new ways to grow that business both domestically and internationally. Peter is an unbelievably talented executive. When he was running Sega and their sports business, it was the only time that EA felt threatened in sports."
What does Peter have to say about his second major career move since his jump from Sega to Microsoft?
"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," stated Moore. "I couldn’t be more excited about joining EA and moving my family back to the San Francisco Bay Area."
Additional reports also reveal that two major benefits that entail Peter’s transition to Electronic Arts are a 1.5 million dollar signing bonus in addition to a $550,000 salary.
If anything, it seems that Mr. Moore is making the switch for the sake of providing a better life for his family and returning to the city where he first established himself in the industry. It seems that Moore’s explaination dispels the idea that there were any issues between himself and Microsoft. He will part with the company on favorable terms.
From EA’s perspective, it is hiring an individual who definitely thinks outside the box – unlike the age-old conservative approach of EA’s business model in which sequel after sequel is produced with little direction to generate new game ideas. Moore will bring a fresh, new approach to doing things at Electronic Arts.
Who knows, if Peter Moore proves himself to be an able leader for the EA Sports division, it just might be possible that he is being groomed for bigger and better things – perhaps the next CEO of EA?
[Reporting by Brian Post, Billy Wang and Frank Ling]
[Via Reuters]
