14 DAY TRIAL // John Riccitiello, the now former Chief Executive Officer or Electronic Arts, will be hailed as a pioneer after a few years will pass, as quite a few analysts note that he managed to keep EA profitable during a period of serious unrest in the gaming industry and positioned it well in the social and mobile segments.
Electronic Arts appointed John Riccitiello as CEO back in 2007 and his arrival marked a new push for innovation, in the form of new games, and acquisitions, as the company bought several large developers, including BioWare as well as mobile or social companies like Chilingo or Playfish.
Sadly, Riccitiello announced earlier this week that he's stepping down from his position as CEO due to the lower-than-expected sales results of which he is accountable.
A couple of analysts have weighed in on this decision and revealed that Riccitiello's performance was a great one overall and he'll be proven right after a few years.
"He inherited the company at a time when the industry was poised for radical change, and the business was forced to contend with a perfect storm of shifting outside factors. Which is to say the gaming business as a whole is radically different from where it was when he began, and Riccitiello boldly moved to steer it into new spaces including online, social and free-to-play, even as the environment was rapidly changing around," TechSavvy Global boss Scott Steinberg told GamesIndustry.
"Only time will tell how successful these efforts will prove, but I suspect that when all's send and done, 10 years from now, he'll be hailed as a pioneer for implementing these initiatives well before many peers."
Wedbush Securities' Michael Pachter also noted that, while Riccitiello led big acquisitions most of them have paid off in spades and positioned EA as a leader in many fields of the industry.
"I think Riccitiello's only mistakes were his expensive acquisitions, but even they yielded a solid mobile and social business and a couple of bona fide franchises in Dragon Age and Mass Effect. The truth is that continual missteps with the NBA game, the failure of Star Wars and the complete disaster of Medal of Honor all contributed to this year's miss, and the combination of those things probably pushed the board to move.
"John's legacy is that they are among the market leaders in mobile and social, have a thriving DLC business, and are well-positioned in the next cycle. No telling who will lead the company, but it's in good shape right now. I think their future is bright, and I'm really sorry that John won't be there to enjoy the success."
EA is now temporarily led by Riccitiello's predecessor Larry Probst and will see a new CEO be appointed in the near future.