EA CEO John Riccitiello Steps Down

Kotaku: Electronic Arts Inc. today announced that John Riccitiello will step down as Chief Executive Officer and as a member of the Board of Directors, effective March 30. The Board has appointed Larry Probst as Executive Chairman to ensure a smooth transition and to lead EA's executive team while the Board conducts a search for a permanent CEO. The Board will consider internal and external candidates with the assistance of a leading executive search firm.

[NYC_Gamer]

I wonder was he forced to step down?many companies are known for these type of actions when expected profit is not being made.

[Mac is OK]

Probably, the writing has been on the wall for a while. SWTOR was what sealed his destiny.

[nrvalleytime]

I like how you threw in the word destiny while talking about Star Wars. Well played.

Think about it though - EA has repeatedly been named one of the most hated companies in any industry. When you have that reputation, stellar sales are the only reason to keep a job.

[papashango]

Definitely SWTOR.

Though I'm sure their plan of alternating MoH and BF backfiring, losing on the NBA front. Poor reception of the Dragon Age series. Being voted the worst company of 2012 and the Simcity disaster didn't really help his case.

[pompombrum]

SWTOR left him hanging, Sim City sealed it. Good riddance, the guy is as bad as Kotick if not worse. Also what's with the disagrees about him being forced to step down? It's probably the most likely case, someone has to take the fall when you are constantly dealing with so much bad PR and the biggest head had to roll eventually.

Anyhow, rejoice gamers, this can only be a good thing.. EA can't possibly get any worse. The 18th of March.. should be officially declared gamers day in celebration.

[HammadTheBeast]

GG. Get out while you can.

[dcbronco]

I'm sure the Mass Effect debacle didn't help either. I don't even buy a EA game with MP until after a few weeks when the servers are more likely to be working properly. They tried to cut too many corners.

[himdeel]

I wonder how much money he gets for leaving EA...

[yess]

Just look at his smile...Enough i guess.

[Root]

Well he could of been forced

OR

He knew EA were in trouble with how much damage control they've done recently and thought he'd get out of there before it got worse. He might of known they were hated too much and there's nothing he could do

[3-4-5]

I know you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, but this guy just looks like he is so out of touch with reality and gaming.

[solid_warlord]

John Riccitiello is the illusive man from Mass Effect...the main villian who happen to be a direct real life evil of the video game world...John Riccitiello.

http://www.trien.org/images...

[Derekvinyard13]

DRM

[Grap]

what a great day for gamers.
that's call for Celebration
F to you Johnny.

[Kyosuke_Sanada]

It would be good day if this event actually constitutes change for the better. It would be a great day if all companies take notice and learn from it.

But don't get too carried away. It's okay to hate the ideas he allowed to perverse gaming but don't hate the person himself.

[ginsunuva]

Don't worry, some other non-gaming greedy business major will take his spot.

[TXIDarkAvenger]

John Riccitiello IS LITERALLY HITLER

[ExCest]

That's a bit far, don't you think?

And, he isn't "literally" Hitler. Hitler is. Not some other guy who isn't.

[TXIDarkAvenger]

Probably should of added "/s" to my comment mocking N4G on the EA hate train and jokes about EA is literally Hitler.

[halocursed]

"A few years ago the game you bought was the game you got"

[majiebeast]

Maybe thewy should get someone from within the gaming industry not a outsider.

[kookie]

For 10$ microtransactions you can read the news,on EA website

[HammadTheBeast]

Proper grammer is extra.

[kookie]

The irony, it is grammar not grammer.

http://www.englishclub.com/...

[AdventurelessHero]

Included with ME3 armor.

[ame22]

Not surprised after the controversy of DS3 and SimCity.

[ziggurcat]

i hardly call giving people the option to waste their money acquiring items that can be found through natural gameplay a controversy.

that was just a case of gamers this generation doing what they do best: crying, and complaining about everything.

[SageHonor]

Because criticizing automatically means whining

[DeltaCanuckian]

The "controversy" surrounding Dead Space 3 was really just a minor (and virtually useless) addition that everyone freaked out on. Anyone who played the game for more than 5 minutes knows the micro transactions have zero effect on the game.

[Kyosuke_Sanada]

Just like horse armour huh........

But when it gets right down to it, why should a practice be that could end up being dangerous in the long run be supported or ignored when the ancient solution of difficulty select was made for people who don't want to hassle through the game's pitfalls.

It's like having a poisonous spider in your bedroom, yeah it will help catch some of the bugs roaming but why the hell I should leave it there when it has a chance of biting me.

ounce of prevention > ton of cure

[animegamingnerd]

1 points for gamers

[Lucreto]

John Riccitiello was a good CEO for a time. He worked on getting new IP's out there but suffered a drop in stock prices.

It was a pity how it went back to the old EA. I remember for a while Activision was the most evil company.

[Trago1337]

Nothing against the man personally, but EA needs a CEO who hold the customer to high regards.

Nickle and diming the hell out of us is one of the MANY reasons i stopped supporting EA. I used to like them a lot, with the games that they published this Gen like Mirrors Edge, the Bad Company games, Alice: Madness returns, Spore, etc, They've had their fair share of Gems.

But it was those shitty business decisions that tainted their name and the game industry, and he was one of the front men of those decisions.

I know that simply having him step down wont automatically stop the poor business decisions, but this is a start.

[DeltaCanuckian]

A lot of those games came out under Riccitiello's watch, but EA's stock prices took a major hit. Blame that as the reason for the return to the old, "evil" EA.

[SonysOldNews]

His last name sounds like the name of some fluffy, white cheese.mmmmmm.

[SDF Repellent]

About freaking time, now what EA need is a person with vision and know something about what the consumers, especially game players, want. Next one on the list should go is the sports lead guy, Peter Moore. I like the guy when he was at Microsoft but why was he even brought in to be the head of EA Sports when they can't even bring a competitive product against NBA 2K13 and Madden been on a decline in both sales and ratings for several years now.

[Topshelfcheese]

Madden went up 4 point in ratings and sold almost a million more copies last year than the year before...do your research before making such claims

[Lvl_up_gamer]

EA also makes the best NHL games to date and put 2K out of the NHL business.

Tiger Woods Golf has been doing well

EA needs to get back into the MLB games

2K only has basketball. I would hardly use 2K as any kind of benchmark that EA needs to reach, IMO EA has more sports games then 2K does so to me the bar is set.

Lets not forget the 2K's MLB series is complete and utter trash right now. 2K13 is the exact game of 2K12 but with a roster update. All the exact same bugs are still there in 2K13 that are in 2K12. Not only is a carbon copy except 2K screwed up the in fielding. The Jays are totally messed up in the in field and can't throw a ball to first without over throwing. It's a disaster. Even the averages are off and not correct.

Jays
Pitching - 84
Batting - 90
Overall - 91

Detroit
Pitching - 90
Batting - 89
Overall - 91

Now how the heck can both the Jays and Tigers be rated overall 91 when the Jays have a pitching of 84? Tigers Pitching and Batting are closer to an overall of 91 but the not the Jays. Meanwhile the Jays are favorites right now to win the World Series.....

If it wasn't for NBA 2K series, I would say F*** 2K and their half assed sports titles.

[whamlollypop7]

Maybe now the waves of anti-consumer actions will halt. Probably not though.

[SuperKiing]

When will he return to his home planet.

[culpepper516]

he probably wants to sell stuff that doesn't make all of his consumers hate him

[rainslacker]

Being a game industry CEO is a pretty thankless job. It's a balancing act between keeping your fans happy, and keeping the shareholders happy. More often than not the two don't actually coincide, which seems strange, but it's the way it is.

[DeadSpaced]

This change could actually be a good one. EA has done a great job with Battlefield, Crysis, Sims, and Need for Speed. Maybe new management would help them avoid blunders and unnecessary hatred.

[Lucreto]

All we need is Yoichi Wada to leave Square Enix and we are all good.

[yazter]

Good riddance.

[Pandamobile]

I actually had a good amount of respect for him earlier in his career around 2007-2008. Before then, EA was in an even lower position with their customers and employees than they are now.

Then EA started pulling all sorts of shit, and the respect quickly faded into disdain. At least their internal corporate culture has stayed positive.

[Bellcross]

There is a God.

O_O

He wont be missed, good riddance.

[FarCryLover182]

John was good in 2007-2008 allowing games like Mirrors Edge and Dead Space 1 to come out.

[wantonGamer]

Shoulda just given us that Mirrors Edge 2 Johnny boy. Now you're flippin' burgers at White Castle.

[Pandamobile]

Or maybe he'll go back to his $2 billion equity firm.

[CaulkSlap]

Driving away paying customers with DRM and angering everyone by pushing bad DLC practices. Hope that's the reasons at least.

[a_bro]

well that escalated quickly...

[sway_z]

Like any personality close to the top (but not at the top) of corporations and companies, there is always 'The Scape Goat'.

The man was part of a filthy (w)hole and is not the actual (w)hole, so divert attention away from the part, and take a closer look at the (whole) the power that rests at the top of the chain.

The same is true in any (Mostly religious, political, legal and pharmaceutical) organizations. The media plays its part (Bill O'Reilly) in providing a version of the truth. Video Game companies are no different.

How the 'general' that is public are so easily fooled and organised like upright 2 legged Sheep.

[ylwzx3]

Now only if the entire company would collapse.

[Pandamobile]

That would likely devastate the gaming industry.

[LOL_WUT]

He will be missed.

[brandonb21]

edit this guy sums it up

[Bercilak]

I wonder if that means that EA will finally shitcan "Project Ten-Dollar". Oh, wait. That *is* EA, pretty much.

[Plagasx]

GOOD. Stop ruining our beloved franchises!

[SSJBen]

EA needs to step down from the gaming industry, not just the CEO.

[MYSTERIO360]

Im guessing he may join activision