Shaking up the highest ranks of the video game industry, Peter Moore, vice president of Interactive Entertainment Business (IEB), Microsoft, has quit the company and joined Electronics Arts to head its large but sluggish sports division.
Ironically, Microsoft appoints ex-EA executive Don Mattrick to replace Peter Moore.
Microsoft said that effective 30 July 2007, Don Mattrick, a former president at Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), who had served as an adviser to the company since February, would take over game operations at Microsoft, which includes overseeing the Xbox and Games for Windows businesses.
Mattrick had been considered a leading candidate to become chief executive of Electronic Arts before leaving the company last year.
Moore will stay at Microsoft until Sept. 1, though Mattrick will start his new job on July 30.
Under Mr. Moore, the Xbox 360 game console became a strong contender in a competitive market, in part because of the popularity of the games made for it. While the console has been plagued by widespread failures, Microsoft has not held Mr. Moore responsible for the engineering problem.
The announcement comes two weeks after Microsoft said it would take a charge of up to $1.15 billion to fix an “unacceptable” number of broken Xbox 360 game consoles.
Congratulations go out to Microsoft and EA for such a well-orchestrated “dance of the press release” to announce these moves almost simultaneously. The companies appeared to have statements in standby mode after rumors of Moore’s departure began circulating around the net.
Before joining Microsoft in 2003, Moore was president and COO of Sega of America during the run of the ill-fated (but well-regarded) Dreamcast game system. He also served in a pivotal role as the company transitioned into a platform agnostic game developer. Before Sega, Moore was senior vice president of marketing at shoemaker, Reebok International.
“Peter’s somebody I have been trying to recruit for the better part of a decade,” John Riccitiello, the chief executive of Electronic Arts, said in a telephone interview. “He is one of the true talents in the industry. He knows sports better than almost anyone I have ever met. He was the toughest competitor we ever had on the sports side when he was at Sega.”
“Moore’s proven record of leadership in games and sports makes him a terrific fit for heading up EA sports,” Riccitiello said in a statement. “As a partner at Microsoft and earlier, as a competitor, we have learned to respect his vision and leadership.”
EA’s sports games cater almost exclusively to the same young male demographic group that the game industry has focused on for decades.
More recently, however, the growth in the video game business — underlined by the success of casual systems like the Wii from Nintendo — has come from appealing to women, children and older people who had not considered themselves game players.
At Electronic Arts, which is the largest video game publisher in the world by sales but has had little revenue growth over the last three years, Moore’s main task is to reinvigorate a sports division that has enjoyed the success of its popular Madden NFL series, but which has also grown complacent.
“Peter has contributed enormously to the games business since joining Microsoft in 2003 and we are sad to see him go,” said Robbie Bach, president, Entertainment and Devices Division, Microsoft. “Since that time, he presided over the global launch of Xbox 360, spearheaded a revitalized and re-branded Games for Windows business, and helped steer the console’s ascent.”
“While Peter will certainly be missed, we are delighted to have one of the industry’s most talented and passionate veterans on board to lead the business,” Bach said. Don is well-known and respected throughout the industry for his deep knowledge, technical expertise and management savvy.
Don Mattrick, was the founder of auto racing specialists Distinctive Software from 1982 until its merger with EA in 1991.
Mattrick brings 23 years of games industry and development experience to the strong Microsoft management team, having helped bring to life such celebrated game franchises as the “Need for Speed,” “Harry Potter” and “The Sims” while at EA.
Mattrick held various executive positions at EA before becoming president of Electronics Arts Worldwide and heir apparent to then-CEO Larry Probs. In 2005, Mattrick resigned from his position after concluding he “was not interested in running a public company.”
“Over the past two decades, and the past few months in particular, I have worked closely with many of Microsoft’s top leaders and I have always been impressed by their talent, passion and commitment,” said Mattrick.
“I am thrilled to join an already strong team that is delivering truly amazing gaming experiences to customers around the world. I have never been more excited about the future of the industry and firmly believe Microsoft will lead the next great innovations in gaming.”
Under Don’s leadership, the games team is looking forward to embarking on our biggest holiday ever, with a wide-ranging roster of some of the most highly anticipated titles, said Bach.
Mattrick now joins an extremely public company which is currently shoulders-deep in a console war with Nintendo and Sony.