John Riccitiello Out as EA CEO

by pastapadre
Posted March 18th, 2013 at 2:15 pm

JohnRiccitiello

Electronic Arts has announced that John Riccitiello has stepped down as Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors. In his place for a temporary basis – until a permanent replacement is found – is Larry Probst the former Chairman and CEO for the company. Riccitiello took over for Probst in 2007.

EA has struggled in recent years as the stock price has fallen significantly even matching a low set in 1999 – though it has rebounded as of late to 52 week highs. While Riccitiello helped, for a short time at least, rehabilitate the poor image of the company by investing in new IPs it has been recent failures like Star Wars: The Old Republic and PR disasters relating to Mass Effect 3 and SimCity that probably acted as the tipping point to eliminating any confidence or support internally and with investors.

The odds-on favorite to take on the CEO role is current COO and former EA Sports president Peter Moore. The company however is conducting a search that will include both internal and external candidates. Until that time it would be premature to assess what the change could mean for the company as a whole and potentially how it could alter its handling of the sports genre. It is a major development that necessitates close following going forward.

Tags: latest news

Keith.

Good riddance, asshole.

Thankfully, losing more than $2.5 billion since 2008 finally took its toll.

And there’s no way the next CEO decides to drastically overpay for the NFL license, if he has any sense whatsoever. In other words, hello NFL2k — we’ve missed you these last 8 years!
- http://pastapadre.com/ pastapadre
  
  I actually think the next CEO, especially if its Peter Moore but no matter who, will look to secure the NFL exclusive sooner than maybe it was going to happen with JR in charge. Like I’ve written about quite a bit it’ll be at much more favorable terms, but no way a new CEO starts and then loses the NFL as one of his first acts.
  - SJ13_BILLS
    
    They have alot more to fix than worry about securing a license to a lackluster game which is Madden. I wish somebody would bring it to the attention of the NFL that EA/Tiburon is not delivering a solid product. Madden and NCAA are living off of hype and past prestige now… that is it. I foolishly bought the game this season and although I did enjoy being able to ad a cyber-face, the game was still boring and captured NOTHING from a real NFL game imo.
  - Keith.
    
    I’ve contended all along that the exclusive licenses are a HUGE financial loser for EA, which is backed up by EA’s huge losses quarter after quarter after quarter after quarter. The new CEO isn’t going to be so stupid as to repeat his predecessors mistakes (especially when they resulted in him resigning) by stepping in the same pile of shit, unless he wants a quick exit, too.
    
    And your speculation that the NFL is going to cut EA a sweetheart deal is just that…speculation. I’d argue the NFL is much more likely to take the approach of farming out the license to whoever wants to make a game, like back in the old days. Maybe if they farm it out to 2-4 developers, they’ll be able to recoup what they’ve made by EA drastically overpaying all these years.
    - chris
      
      I’d argue the opposite… The quarters where they are making profit are prime Madden sales quarters. Quarters ending in October and January. They beat analysts expectations. Not just making money, but making more than experts expected… The reason the CEO quit was every company has an “Operating Plan”. Beating the operating plan is important because that is what many/most investors look at before buying stock. They beat expert expectations, but not EA’s IOP profit wise. Losing stockholders and money to play with in the process. This is why/how CEOs leave companies.
      - Keith.
        
        Not sure what financials you’re looking at. They lost $45 million last quarter, which beat analyst expectations, but that’s not saying much when you’re talking about a loss of $45 million. And they’ve lost $2.5 billion since 2008. In other words, there haven’t been profits…just whether they lost more or less than the analysts were expecting.
    - mcmax3000
      
      And your speculation that the NFL is going to go back to allowing multiple licensed games is just that… speculation.
      
      There is clear evidence that the NFL likes exclusive licenses. Most of their licensed products are exclusives. They may, or may not end up back with EA on the video game front, but I’ve seen zero evidence that there’s any chance of them ending up with more than one publisher.
      - Keith.
        
        Of course it’s speculation. But for the last year I’ve been speculating that MLB2k would still be released and that Riccotello was on his way out the door, so I’m hoping to make it 3 for 3 with the return of NFL2k (and hopefully other NFL games).
        
        As for what the NFL likes, it doesn’t really matter if EA can’t or isn’t able to step up and over-pay for the exclusive again. EA didn’t build that $2.5 Billion ditch by staying away from exclusives — if anything, they helped contribute. The new CEO is probably going to be on a pretty short leash and has got to figure out a way to turn things around immediately or he will be gone too. And grossly over-paying for the NFL exclusive in a long-term contract does nothing to help EA’s bottom line, as history now shows.
- dave travis
  
  From your lips to God’s ears on the NFL2K thing
- Khadeem
  
  if nfl 2k is anything like nba 2k…youll be dissapointed…speaking of 2k…hows mlb 2k doing …. -_____-
  - TheSpartanZombie
    
    Way to go completely off-topic.
  - dave travis
    
    Please? NBA2k is the 2nd greatest sports game out there, behind the show, you serious??
    - Keith.
      
      That post is par for the course for Khadeem.
      - Khadeem
        
        if any of you guys understood basketball then you wouldnt be saying that…im not a basketball czar, but i know good basketball when i see it…2ksports basketball game is made for children…not only does the gameplay annoy me, but the player ratings and attributes are terribly inaccuarate…n keith par for the course is being a 2ksports fan boy for you…i objectively observe and participate in gaming…i have no ties to any specific franchise…i have problems with ea and 2k sports
    - CSaint1994
      
      2k is dreadful this year
    - Ovithegreat
      
      The gameplay is fun, but have you tried to play online association? It’s the worst online career mode I’ve ever experienced in a sports game. Not even close to being the second greatest sports game
    - Khadeem
      
      by default…sports have becoming watered down…they made the game for 9 year olds…when you play online you run into scrubs who throw up threes, play 1-3-1 zone, and constantly double team…the shot success is terrible, the reactions defensively are terrible, and there is a force field when closing out on shooters…n i havent even mentioned the multitude of remaining b.s on the game…then again youre probably an 11 yr old running full speed down the court shooting contested threes with chris paul or something
- DistortedAudio
  
  Wait, how does this gurantee that 2K is going to overpay for the license. Or that NFL2K will be any good?
Keith.

And Jwaan, this is why we pay attention to things like sales numbers and stock price. Took awhile for everything to play out, but you can’t say we didn’t tell you this day was coming.
- http://profile.yahoo.com/PRNYYXZW5CPECODQZM2VGFZKI4 Jwaan
  
  Wow I got name dropped, I feel special!
  
  Anyway I don’t pay much attention to that stuff, not necessarily because I don’t care (I really don’t) but because it won’t determine whether I like a game or not. I don’t really understand what this means for the series either, but if it ends up making the game better and FUN again I’m all for it.
  
  And I wouldn’t mind a 2k comeback, if only for competition purposes, but it’s not like 2k is sitting on a football game primed and ready for release. It could turn out to resemble the mlb series just as easily as it could surpass EA, but they don’t need to rush.
SJ13_BILLS

Good, now maybe the consumers will stop getting ripped off so much
http://www.facebook.com/cush2push Geoff Wightman

Where do i apply?
CSaint1994

Guarantee the comment section will blow up on this post lol
- Keith.
  
  And it should — some of us have been waiting a long time for this day to arrive.
  - http://www.facebook.com/people/Iown-You/100000775565221 Iown You
    
    You called it, Keith. I’m just a little shocked it even took THIS long. The guy was terrible, but I don’t know how anyone can read all of the information about Probst’s involvement in the exclusive license fiasco and actually say they have confidence in this coward. 2K had him wearing diapers back in 2004, lol, and it’s public record so it’s not like he can deny it happened.
- jarbowski
  
  Stocks are up 2.5%….. Hmmmmm Oh wait he started in 2007…. makes sense as an avid NCAA fan.
baumy300

*Looks at Madden 06 and NCAA 06*

*Looks again*

Hell yes! Sports games under Probst were better than they are now, and since we don’t have any choice in the matter, maybe, just maybe this will bring the EA football games out of the sewer and at least into the gutter!
- Keith.
  
  Careful — Probst is the jerk who came up with the idea to pursue the NFL exclusive in the first place, having originally made the pitch to Roger Goodell back in May 2004 (see footnote 78 in the link below). He’s also the douche-bag who hand-picked Riccotello to take over the reins in 2007.
  
  http://easportslitigation.com/pdf/Paynter%20Declaration%20Ex.%20C%20-%20Part%201.pdf
- http://www.facebook.com/people/Iown-You/100000775565221 Iown You
  
  *Looks at Madden 06 for 360*
  
  *Looks at baumy300*
  
  *Looks at crack pipe in baumy300′s hand*
  - baumy300
    
    Haha, man trust me – Go back on PS2 and play NCAA 06 again,.Get past the last gen graphics and just watch the O and D line interact. I mean I saw honest to god pass rushing and bull/swim moves being utilized! It was so refreshing to d-lineman be able to apply pressure and their ratings matter.
    
    I hate EA as much as anyone, and then some, but I would kill for them to bring back that old line play so I can at least tolerate a football game.
    
    Someone needs to tell Cowmiller that football games are won in trenches. A boy his size should know that.
- HV
  
  If Madden is worst and Live is a disaster, on the other hand, the best NHL years were during this generation. And FIFA was a complete arcade garbage in the PS2, starting around 09 to become what it is today. So I can’t really tell if the man was good or bad for the whole EA Sports.
The Red One

Really little Caleb? Really? Why, what a big smart boy you are today!
SJ13_BILLS

Consumers who dislike EA’s practices all they want, but rest assured a new jackhole will be appointed with even more selfishness and a talent tree of screwing the consumer out of the most money.
thelowedown

It’d be nice for the next EA CEO to actually play and understand video games. A big portion of EA’s trouble seems to come from needlessly being deceptive and unresponsive to the legitimate concerns and issues of customers (SimCity).
http://www.facebook.com/taylor.stephens.180 Taylor Stephens

Its about time. Fans should urge the old guy to come back or hold out on purchasing the game.
homer

the more things change, the more they stay the same
Arrowe76

Mass Effect 3? Are they really putting an artistically disappointing ending in the same boat as the SimCity technical failures? The Mass Effect franchise has to be considered a huge success story
- greenerG
  
  People were upset because EA promised that your decisions made all along would lead to any number of endings. But they lied and were all basically the same.
  - Arrowe76
    
    That wasn’t EA, that was BioWare, and there is a huge difference between a game with an unsatisfying ending and a broken game.
lostindelta

He gets a bad rap IMO. Not like Peter Moore would have done things much differently.
fantasyboi

this def is a good thing!!
chris

Simply put he resigned because profit wasn’t on track with “The Plan” and the NFL license ensures them more $. So next CEO will likely sign up. That being said I think they keep the exclusivity agreement with the NFL and NFLPA… Mostly because it looks like the NFL will be losing money from Direct TV. It’s expected that Direct TV will not sign up with the NFL next year. NFL and NFLPA will be looking for cash where they can and may even give exclusivity cheaper than before. I wouldn’t be surprised with the next gen if the concept for sports games changes in general. In some ways this may be better or may be worse. I could easily see a pay for updates model being applied to sports games in the near future. Including, but not limited to rosters, new features, and updated plays.
MoneyMayweather

could this mean a new NFL street and NBA street are on the way? a real NFL street and NBA street. Probst released NFL street 3 on PS2 in 06 so why not?
Keith.

How about, EA looks to defend its crown against AT&T, Bank of America, BP and others in The 2013 Worst Company in America voting that begins today over at consumerist.com. My money’s on EA making it back to at least the Final Four. Whether they get to cut down the nets again could depend on how many Sims fans “get out the vote.”

I wonder if EA will just laugh off the award, like they did last year, if they do manage to “win” it again.

http://consumerist.com/2013/03/18/here-are-your-contestants-for-the-2013-worst-company-in-america-tournament/#more-10122750