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[Quentyn]

Frank Gibeau was the one who actually successfully revamped their core gaming division from gigantic licensed game trainwreck to a division focused on quality owned IP, and has worked from tester on up at the company, so he actually has experienced the perspective of working at almost every level at the company and is less likely to make decisions solely from a business point of view.

Judging by Peter Moore's comments and perspectives, picking him would pretty much be the "run the company how JR would, but with a new face" option, and continuing on under the assumption that their strategy was solid but just needed more time and tweaking. He would probably also hasten their move to being very f2p heavy in the more negative connotation, since he's rather enamored with it lately.

Okay, thanks. That makes sense. Didn't know that Gibeau started as tester. That's one hell of a career.

 

[graboids]

We only got Mirror's Edge due to Riccitiello's original focus on creating new IP and improving game quality at EA. And that didn't work out for him in the end, so I doubt it.

my comment wasn't based on rational thought, more that "things are changing and I hope they change in a direction that brings us those games..." but I expect to be disappointed...

 

[Kyoufu]

Ballmer and Iwata, incompetence protected by more incompetence.

Wada is more incompetent than both of those men combined!

 

[Kifimbo]

what will this change?

Hopefully EA PC games on Steam and PC version of their sport games.

 

[Duxxy3]

I hope Ballmer will be on that list soon.

We all do.

Keep him on as COO, dump him as CEO.

 

[SolidSnakex]

Ballmer and Iwata, incompetence protected by more incompetence.

Iwata probably isn't going anywhere because of how the Wii and DS turned out. He's also managed to turn around the 3DS.

 

[Icarus]

Sega had just been Stolar'd when Moore showed up.

Moore did great, but it was a losing battle anyhow. He later did great at Microsoft.

Sorry, but neither Stolar nor Moore had anything to do with Sega's demise. That was all driven by Japan. Those two did the best they could to keep the wheels on.

 

[Demon Ice]

Never forget.

 

[Syraxith]

We all do.

Keep him on as COO, dump him as CEO.

I agree.
Microsoft needs a visionary at the helm ala Steve Jobs, not a professional CEO.

 

[Opiate]

Hopefully EA PC games on Steam and PC version of their sport games.

This is what I'm trying to caution people against.

People are hoping that this may signal better Steam support, less DRM, less day 1 DLC, and so forth.

It is much more likely to either 1) not change EA's core strategy in any meaningful way or 2) change it in ways that most GAF members like even less.

 

[Zomba13]

Oh shit. Was just listening to this weeks Giant Bombcast and they were discussing Riccitello and EA and whether anything would happen with him because of the recent EA stuff (TOR, Sim City etc).

 

[evangd007]

I think they would be looking to win the hearts of "gamers" if those hearts were profitable.

The problem is that they didn't turn out to be. At least, not the types of "gamers" that EA was largely after. Too small a market for too high a production cost.

The gamers you are describing are a cheaper date than I believe you are giving them credit for. If EA announced that Bioware was making KOTOR 3 tomorrow and that it'd have the production values of, say, Wasteland 2, the praise would be uncontrollable.

There sure is a lot of jerking off in that resignation letter.

I guess the man is all eviled out.

He lived long enough to see himself become the villain. Back in 2008-2009, he would have died a hero.

 

[RSTEIN]

To state the obvious, the reason he provided for his resignation is complete BS. You don't resign because you "slightly" miss 1 year financial projections.

 

[Nirolak]

And the farewell letter.

To Everyone at EA –

I am writing with some tough news. I have resigned my position as EA’s CEO. I will be around for a couple of weeks, and I hope to have the chance to say goodbye to many of you. Larry Probst will be stepping in as Executive Chairman to help smooth the transition. Larry first hired me at EA in 1997 and he was an incredible leader for the company during the 16 years he served as CEO. While he will continue to be the Chairman of the US Olympic Committee, he will also provide leadership for EA until a permanent CEO is appointed.

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.

Personally, I think we’ve never been in a better position as a company. You have made enormous progress in improving product quality. You are now generating more revenue on fewer titles by making EA’s games better and bigger. You’ve navigated a rapidly transforming industry to create a digital business that is now approximately $1.5 billion and growing fast. The big investments you’ve made in creating EA’s own platform are now showing solid returns. I believe EA is alone in mastering the challenges of building a platform for our games and services – a platform that will provide a more direct relationship with our consumers. You are number one in the fastest growing segment, mobile, with incredible games like The Simpsons: Tapped Out, Real Racing 3, Bejeweled, SCRABBLE and Plants v. Zombies. You have worked to put EA in a position to capture industry leadership on the next generation of consoles; and I believe two of our titles – Battlefield and FIFA – will be among the top few franchises in the entire industry. And the industry’s most talented management team – Frank, Rajat, Peter, Gaby, Andrew, Patrick, Blake, Joel and Jeff — are certain to lead the company to a successful future.

I remain an incredible fan of EA and everyone who works in our world – from Stockholm to Seoul, Orlando to Edmonton, Guildford, Geneva, Cologne, Lyon, Bucharest, Montreal, Austin, Salt Lake, LA and, of course, EARS. My hope is that my travels and yours allow us the opportunity to talk more in the months and years to come.

In a few weeks, I will be leaving EA physically. But I will never leave emotionally. I am so incredibly proud of all the great things you have done, and it has been my honor to lead this team these past six years. After March, I will be cheering wildly for EA from the sidelines.

Source: http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/03...gning-heres-his-farewell-letter/?mod=yahoo_hs

 

[TheBaronOfNA]

Does a CEO really have that nuch influence over the development process?

Yes, like a lot.

 

[RBH]

I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE TO TUSSLE

LET'S GO OUT IN A BLAZE

I'm glad at least one person posted this.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

Anyone else wanna treat the customer and developer as enemy and slave?!?

This is because of John Walker's articles, isn't it?

When you play russian roulette long enough...

 

[-SD-]

 

[Goron2000]

Do none of you remember what EA was like before Riccitiello? A much, much worse company came into this generation than came out of it.

 

[RibMan]

I'm not surprised that Riccitiello is 'stepping down'.

Is this good for gamers or bad ?

That depends on what EA's plan for next-gen is. If they're embracing an always-online future, then we're in for a bumpy ride.

 

[Syraxith]

Yes, like a lot.

Especially when you're publicly traded.

 

[AniHawk]

wow. kinda surprising, honestly. wonder what it means for the type of games getting made.

 

[ShockingAlberto]

Sorry, but neither Stolar nor Moore had anything to do with Sega's demise. That was all driven by Japan. Those two did the best they could to keep the wheels on.

Stolar had a lot to do with Sega's demise.

His active attempts to smother the Saturn with a pillow to force Sega of Japan to hurry up with the Dreamcast being the most infamous.

 

[Mutanthands]

Shouldn't have turned your back on Iwata boy, Nintendo ninjas always get the job done.

The ninjas will be coming for Iwata soon if he doesn't turn things around.

I get the feeling that this is going to be a case of "meet the new boss, same as the old boss." The shareholders are still looking for growth and quarterly profits. Nothing will change at EA as long as that is the case.

If Valve was publicly held like EA, could you imagine the chaos over the way things are done over there?

 

[Talon]

RIP any hope of a Mirror's Edge sequel

 

[GavinGT]

Never forget.

I can't believe he's arguing that because he (a millionaire who also ran the company) readily drops money on frivolous things in EA games, that the general public doesn't mind doing it either.

 

[Gonzo The Great]

I wonder if Nintendo of America will hire him. Riccitiello is one of Reggie's "good friends", apparently.

Spoiler

Please God no.

 

[Omikaru]

Wada is more incompetent than both of those men combined!

Wada will be on the chopping block if FF14 craters for a second time, especially considering the amount of cash Square-Enix has pumped into it. I actually don't know how much debt they have, if any, but a lot has to be riding on FF14 or they wouldn't have taken the game back to the drawing board in the first place.

 

[Reversed]

Just when a few hours ago I was reading Trip Hawkin's view on EA's current CEO.

Thank god this anti-consumer bastard is going away.

 

[Opiate]

The gamers you are describing are a cheaper date than I believe you are giving them credit for. If EA announced that Bioware was making KOTOR 3 tomorrow and that it'd have the production values of, say, Wasteland 2, the praise would be uncontrollable.

On PC that's possible, but I do not believe this would be a functional model on consoles. EA is in the business of making AAA titles which generate huge revenue streams that are on as many platforms as possible, and I have not seen much evidence of PS3 gamers being tolerant of PS2-esque graphics, for example. It's certainly a primary reason the Wii was so derided among the "hardcore" console gamer.

But yes, smaller scale projects can be kickstarted for PC with an avid fan base. You'll notice the distinct lack of console-oriented or even console multiplat Kickstarter successes, though.

 

[BobLoblaw]

We all do.

Keep him on as COO, dump him as CEO.

I can only dream...

 

[Phoenician_Viking]

About damn time. I hope the next one won´t be an insufferable asshole.

 

[FStop7]

I think whoever we get next will be worse.

 

[Rapstah]

In a few weeks, I will be leaving EA physically. But I will never leave emotionally.

Is this EA or E.T.?

 

[massoluk]

The ninjas will be coming for Iwata soon if he doesn't turn things around.

I get the feeling that this is going to be a case of "meet the new boss, same as the old boss." The shareholders are still looking for growth and quarterly profits. Nothing will change at EA as long as that is the case.

If Valve was publicly held like EA, could you imagine the chaos over the way things are done over there?

Iwata isn't going anywhere when 3DS is basically owning a country.

 

[WrenchNinja]

People with a successful track record in the respective field.

Yeah, I get that. I suppose I just didnt figure that there could really be many people who could run a multibillion dollar company. Like how do you have the appropriate experience for that, haha?

 

[MechaX]

Wada will be on the chopping block if FF14 craters for a second time, especially considering the amount of cash Square-Enix has pumped into it. I actually don't know how much debt they have, if any, but a lot has to be riding on FF14 or they wouldn't have taken the game back to the drawing board in the first place.

Yeah, if FF14 fails again, he's gone (and I don't think it will matter how well the Eidos side did at that point, especially after the herculean efforts it took to get FF14 2.0 up).

 

[ProfessorMoran]

WTF why? I guess it will grow back another one, kind of like how EA will replace JR.

 

[Rad-]

This gif is missing the best part when he just walks off the screen looking at the camera like "I'm awesome".

 

[Brannon]

John Rccitiello is an unprecedented cunt in the gaming industry, and in the best possible way, I'm glad to have seen him crash hard, and to see him leave.

 

[thomaser]

All I want is better support for Nintendo's systems. Probably too much to hope for from EA regardless who sits in the chair...

 

[SkylineRKR]

This gif is missing the best part when he just walks off the screen looking at the camera like "I'm awesome".

A crab that rips off his claw and walks away without giving a fuck is any kinds of awesome in my book. All this while walking sideways too.

Sorry, but neither Stolar nor Moore had anything to do with Sega's demise. That was all driven by Japan. Those two did the best they could to keep the wheels on.

Ofcourse, but saying your console is not your future almost 2 years (or over 2 years) before you can launch a successor is one of the dumbest moves ever. And third party relations were very stiff under Stolar's reign. But it wasn't all gloom, I think Stolar pushed a lower RRP and faster modem through.

 

[Mutanthands]

Iwata isn't going anywhere when 3DS is basically owning a country.

A country. While underperforming everywhere else. With a next generation system that's tracking about the same as the Gamecube.

Nintendo is publicly held. Iwata is not as safe as you think.

 

[HoosTrax]

WTF why?

Do not mess with a momma bird.

 

[Ace Harding]

God damn it doesn't get any easier seeing this list. Anyways, even though EA is most likely beyond saving at this point, it's at least good to see that this asshole is no longer getting his cut from this consumer extortion.

I dunno, I mean Origin (lol) and Bullfrog were ages ago. With the number of studios EA has touched over the last couple of decades the list of closures of beloved studios isn't that long.

With Bullfrog, Molyneux left after Dungeon Keeper and the studio just kind of lingered after that for like 5 years.

Origin was killed around the same time, and IIRC it was a time when the kinds of games both studios made weren't super popular (like '03-/04).

Other than C&C, Westwood's catalog is not exactly legendary.

Pandemic was sad, because EA bought it (along with BioWare) and closed it a year later. But it had its problems before EA bought it.

 

[Opiate]

All I want is better support for Nintendo's systems. Probably too much to hope for from EA regardless who sits in the chair...

Nintendo fans want more Nintendo support, PC gamers want the games on Steam, and everybody wants less DLC.

It is unlikely any of these will happen. EA is missing profitable opportunities, but it doesn't look like the Wii U is shaping to be one a significant one of those.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

Especially when you're publicly traded.

Especially with shareholders who've woken up to the fact that "swing for the fences AAA" game design and asocial game facebookery not being liscences to print money..

Wada will be on the chopping block if FF14 craters for a second time, especially considering the amount of cash Square-Enix has pumped into it. I actually don't know how much debt they have, if any, but a lot has to be riding on FF14 or they wouldn't have taken the game back to the drawing board in the first place.

Wada will outlast cockroaches. He's a sorcerer. No one could piss away that much talent, money, and time and their career still draw breath otherwise.

 

[Grizzlyjin]

Surprisingly straightforward for a resignation letter. It boiled down to, "yeah, I'm not doing so hot...so yeah, sorry."

I'm so sick of seeing "I regret to announce that I have decided to leave to spend more time with my family..." That just screams FIRED!

 

[-SD-]

WTF why?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v241TF-cSzU

 

[antitrop]

Do not mess with a momma bird.

That was awesome, I was hoping someone would post the source.