Gamefront is standing by rumors from an anonymous source that at the July 30th conference meeting, the executive shareholders at Electronic Arts will vote to replace current chief executive officer John Riccitiello, with the current chief operating officer Peter Moore, former poster boy for both Microsoft and Sega.
This comes on the heels of the explosive news that John Riccitiello confided in Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter that his job might be on the line due to EA's epic-fail status of their stock.
Riccitiello originally joined the company back in 1997 as COO that lasted him a stint up until 2004, after a brief hiatus he returned to the company in 2007 along with acquiring Pandemic and BioWare Studios back in 2008, which ultimately lead to the company's current position.
Gamefront has reached out for a comment on the accuracy of the rumor but hasn't received a response yet.
Gamers have taken a much more realistic approach, with Gamefront reader Ross Lincoln making a very accurate representation of the scenario involving both Moore and Riccitiello, saying...
I predict what actually happens is that Moore is offered three choices: Either destroy Riccitiello, control him, or force everyone at EA to merge with him. It’s also possible that Moore was always intended to take over as CEO, but Riccitiello decided it would be better for the company’s bottom line if he were removed from consideration just prior to release (of the most recent investor report), and then made available later, as a Deficit Leveraged Ceo, or DLC.Of course, there’s always the risk that they’ll remove the single-Commanding officer option entirely, and force Riccitiello and Moore into an unwanted Co-Op situation.
If either of those happened it would be absolutely hilarious. I wonder if BioWare was foreshadowing Riccitiello's demise with the piss-poor Mass Effect 3 endings?
I guess you really do reap what you sow...especially if you're a rEAper.
We'll keep you posted on additional info and happenings regarding the rumored replacement for Johnny Boy. I'm hoping the guy gets taken down a peg and someone who actually has a lick, a bite or a taste of actual game development steps into his place. Hey, a gamer can dream.
