Electronic Arts plans to splinter its biggest studios and shake up the leadership team to focus on “empowering our creative teams.”
In a blog post on the publisher’s official site, CEO Andrew Wilson revealed the massive change coming, indicating that EA Games and EA Sports are splitting, with the former being rebranded to EA Entertainment. This decision seems like a step in expanding the business well beyond video games, and mixed multimedia is likely in the future at some point.
“Today, we are announcing the next step of our strategy by aligning our studios into two organizations that report to me — EA Entertainment and EA Sports,” says Wilson. “This evolution of our company continues to empower our studio leaders with more creative ownership and financial accountability to make faster and more insightful decisions around development and go to market strategies. These steps will accelerate our business, drive growth, and deliver long-term value for our people, our players and our communities.”
Laura Miele, EA’s Chief Operating Officer, now serves as President of EA Entertainment, Technology & Central Development and oversees essential studios to empower them creatively.
Vince Zampella will continue to work on games, build communities under the EA Entertainment banner, and work on Apex Legends, Star Wars, and Battlefield. Samantha Ryan will continue to focus on single-layer and lifestyle franchises; Jeff Karp will focus on mobile and work with partners to build on titles like FIFA Mobile.
Newly appointed EVP and Chief Experiences Officer David Tinson will lead the EA Experiences team as it expands and scales services and capabilities across marketing. It was also revealed that Chris Bruzzo is retiring at the end of the month after having worked at EA for over nine years; EA Chief Financial Officer Chris Suh is leaving the company. Stuart Canfield has been appointed EA’s new EVP and Chief Financial Officer, taking over for Chris Suh.
Next month, EA plans to reveal EA Sports FC to the world after leaving the FIFA license behind. “Everything you love about our games will be part of EA Sports FC – the same great experiences, modes, leagues, tournaments, clubs and athletes will be there. Ultimate Team, Career Mode, Pro Clubs and VOLTA Football will all be there. Our unique licensing portfolio of more than 19,000+ players, 700+ teams, 100+ stadiums, and 30 leagues that we’ve continued to invest in for decades will still be there, uniquely in EA Sports FC. That includes exclusive partnerships with the Premier League, LaLiga, Bundesliga, Serie A, the MLS – and more to come,” said Cam Weber last year, and now serves as president of EA Sports.
The biggest takeaway is that EA wants its leaders to give their studios the room and expression to be creative. I’m curious to see what becomes of EA Sports now that it branching and becoming its own entity that will focus on Madden, F1, PGA, and so on.
Over the coming months, Stuart, Laura, Cam, and David will partner closely with studio leaders to implement these organizational changes, further embedding dedicated capabilities into franchise teams and driving operational rigor.,” says Wilson. “Chief Strategy Officer Mihir Vaidya will now report directly to me, and together with Chief People Officer Mala Singh and Chief Legal Officer Jake Schatz, our entire management team is focused on executing our core strategies to drive results.”
Earlier today, Immortals of Aveum, an EA Original, was delayed from July 20 to August 22 for more polish and optimization.
