EA CEO Riccitiello to step down

 

EA CEO John Riccitiello to step down; company lowers its expectations for this quarter

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John Riccitiello is out as CEO of Electronic Arts. The company will consider both internal and external candidates as it looks for his replacement.

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Preeti Upadhyaya

Technology Reporter- Silicon Valley Business Journal

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After six years at the helm of Electronic Arts Inc., CEO John Riccitiello will step down effective March 30, the company reports.

EA's board has appointed Larry Probst as executive chairman, effective immediately. Probst has served as chairman of the board since 1994 and served as EA's CEO between 1991 and 2007.
"We thank John for his contributions to EA since he was appointed CEO in 2007, especially the passion, dedication and energy he brought to the company every single day," Probst said in a company press release.
Riccitiello said in the release, "...After six years I feel it is the right time for me to pass the baton and let new leadership take the company into its next phase of innovation and growth."
In a blog post addressing the entire company, Riccitiello said, "My decision to leave EA is really all about my accountability for the shortcomings in our financial results this year. It currently looks like we will come in at the low end of, or slightly below, the financial guidance we issued to the Street, and we have fallen short of the internal operating plan we set one year ago. And for that, I am 100 percent accountable."
The change in leadership comes at a difficult time for Redwood City-based EA, which has been struggling as smaller game developers and the mobile market put pressure on the gaming giant. More recently, the company frustrated gamers with the problematic launch of SimCity. The game, which sold over one million copies since coming on the market two weeks ago, received widespread complaints from customers who could not log on to play thanks to server issues.

Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello is out. Is the company now a buy or sell?

Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello is out. Is the company now a buy or sell?

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