14 DAY TRIAL // A former executive claiming to have held a top position inside video game publisher Electronic Arts says that former Chief Executive Officer John Riccitiello was obnoxious and failed to create a culture that encouraged innovation and the development of new game franchises.
A former executive tells GamesIndutry that, “Riccitiello lost money every single year he was at EA while I was there, (and probably every other year he was there too). He just didn’t know anything about games, or rather, interactive entertainment in general.”
The former company leader went on to blast the rest of the leadership, including interim CEO Larry Probst, saying that they had encouraged creative minds to leave Electronic Arts and did not have a clear vision for the future.
He added, “EA hasn’t done much of anything of interest in 10-15 years, as proven by the unstaunched bleeding out of equity over that entire time period. It’s sad really, that company used to kick [expletive]. Riccitiello was the single largest reason it stopped. Maybe it will heal, but I don’t think so.”
John Riccitiello announced that he was resigning his leadership position effective on March 30 and that he was taking blame for the less than impressive performance of Electronic Arts during the most recent fiscal year.
The company is currently evaluating both internal and external candidates for the position.
Rumors are suggesting that current Chief Operation Officer, Peter Moore, is the perfect candidate for the CEO position, but he might be a little too outspoken for his own good.
Electronic Arts has been affected this year by the botched launch of SimCity, a game that was affected by a lot of server problems, enough to convince the company to deliver a free game to all those who bought it on launch.
Last year, the company also failed to make Medal of Honor: Warfighter a hit and shelved the entire series.