While other companies talk of mergers and acquisitions, EA is taking a different route. The company is undergoing internal restructuring, splitting EA Sports and EA Games as two separate entities.
In a surprise move, Electronic Arts announced a major shakeup within the organization. EA CEO Andrew Wilson confirmed that the company is realigning its major studios and leadership structure in a bid to "empower our creative teams."
The resulting shakeup will see EA Games and EA Sports splitting into two distinct entities. EA Games will be renamed EA Entertainment, suggesting that the company plans to expand beyond just video games.
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.
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 Maiele has been appointed as president of EA Entertainment, Technology & Central Development. The leadership team will be structured much like before the two entities split. Vince Zampella will be overseeing the development of Apex Legends, Star Wars games, and the Battlefield franchise. Samantha Ryan is in charge of "lifestyle franchises and blockbuster single-player experiences" while Jeff Karp will lead the mobile development teams.
Cam Weber will be the new president of EA Sports and his responsibilities include "genre-leading EA Sports experiences and our entire racing portfolio." David Tinson will lead the EA Experience team as former chief experiences officer Chriss Bruzzo is retiring. Stuart Canfield will be taking over as Chief Financial Officer as Chris Suh is departing from the company.
Andrew Wilson will remain as CEO of EA. He shared his excitement for the future of the company and hopes to bring more games and experiences to gamers worldwide.
"Our business remains strong, and I could not be more excited about our future as we bring more amazing games and experiences to more people around the world," Wilson shared. "Thank you for your creativity, passion, and all that you do, as we write the next great chapter of our story together."
EA is in the middle of a company-wide restructuring which started when the company let go of around six percent of its workforce in March. There was a further reduction in manpower in June which reportedly impacted two-thirds of the Need for Speed: No Limits studio Firemonkeys.
It's unclear how this restructuring will affect EA's upcoming slate of games, which includes Immortals of Aveum and EA Sports FC, among others.
