Electronic Arts Inc. today announced that the company will organize its business into four Labels: EA Sports, EA Games, EA Casual Entertainment and The Sims. Each Label will operate with dedicated studio and publishing teams focused on consumer-driven priorities. The new structure is designed to streamline decision-making, improve global focus, and speed new ideas to the market.
The four Labels will be organized as follows:
The Sims – Led by Label President Nancy Smith. This team created the model on which the new organization is built. Upcoming releases include: MySims™ for the Wii™ and Nintendo DS™, SimCity™ Societies, and The Sims Castaway Stories and many more.
EA Games – Led by Label President Frank Gibeau. This label includes Need for Speed™, Medal of Honor™, SPORE™, Battlefield, Burnout™, Command & Conquer™, The Simpsons™ and more. EA Games will also be home to the EA Partners publishing business.
EA Casual Entertainment – Led by Label President Kathy Vrabeck. This team will focus on lighter, more accessible games for families and new consumers. The portfolio will include EA franchises and games such as Harry Potter™, Boogie™ and others. This group will also be home to EA Mobile™ and EA’s casual suite of online games, Pogo.com™.
EA SPORTS – Without question, the strongest brand in interactive entertainment. This team is responsible for many of the company’s flagship franchises including Madden NFL, NBA Live, FIFA Soccer, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR®, NHL® Hockey and NASCAR®. EA Executive Vice President Joel Linzner will oversee this group until a president of EA Sports is announced.
The four Labels will be supported by two new groups: Central Development Services and Global Publishing. Central Development Services, led by Executive Vice President John Schappert, will include leadership on technology, operations, EA’s online platform, and the office of the Chief Creative Officer. EA Global Publishing will be responsible for strategic planning, field marketing, sales and distribution in Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America.
The new structure maintains worldwide support teams for Finance, IT, Legal and Human Resources.
“This transition will be implemented over the course of the coming months,” said EA Chief Executive Officer John Riccitiello. “EA is privileged to have a deep bench of proven talent and our new structure encourages people to bring great ideas into the market more quickly. There will be more games and services for core consumers and new gamers and better focus on operational efficiency.”