EA elevated Andrew Wilson, the company’s executive vice president overseeing EA Sports, to the top position as the company’s new CEO. The two widely rumored internal contenders COO Peter Moore and President of EA Labels Frank Gibeau apparently are not taking the top position.
Executive chairman Larry Probst announced the new appointment in a memo today. He said, “The rigorous search conducted by our Board included several talented executives from both outside the company and from within EA. Andrew's appointment is a clear demonstration of the deep bench of management talent at EA, and reflects our fundamental belief that EA is on track to become the global leader in interactive games and services.”
Wilson will be leading the company into a challenging era. EA not only has to manage multiple franchises on consoles; it is also trying to find its way in a new world where games are services and are free-to-play.
Wilson joined the company more than a decade ago, and led the company’s Asia online publishing group before serving as executive producer of EA’s very lucrative FIFA franchise. After that, he became the executive vice president overseeing EA Sports and then shepherded the company’s online, games-as-a-service platform Origin into existence.
He’s the first studio executive to serve as CEO.
Probst added, “He is a compelling and charismatic communicator who cares deeply about organizational development, teams, and the individual careers of people who work for EA. Most of all, he has a powerful sense of respect for and commitment to our consumers.”
ConversionConversion EmoticonEmoticon