EA is restructuring, and will separate its development staff into two major divisions: EA Sports and EA Entertainment.
EA CEO Andrew Wilson will continue to preside over both divisions, so it's perhaps best to think of this as an internal business restructuring rather than a full-on de-merger. Wilson says in the announcement that "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."
EA Sports will be headed up by Cam Weber, and as IGN reports will continue to oversee everything from F1 and Super Mega Baseball to the usual Madden, NHL, and FIFA - now EA Sports FC - releases. Not every sports-adjacent title will be under that banner, however, as Full Circle, the studio behind Skate 4, will be part of EA Entertainment.
- EA says Mass Effect 5 is now BioWare's "full focus" as it shuffles devs to other studios, with some reportedly facing layoffs following Dragon Age: The Veilguard's underperformance
- Baldur's Gate 3 dev slams EA's BioWare layoffs as "a short-term cost-saving measure" that "doesn't solve a long-term problem"
EA Entertainment, then, is what we'd generally have called the majority of the publisher's output as EA Games. Laura Miele will be the overall head of EA Entertainment, with groups of studios reporting to other sub-executives. Vince Zampella will continue to lead Respawn and DICE, while Samantha Ryan will continue to run "leading lifestyle franchises and blockbuster single-player experiences" - meaning everything from Mass Effect 5 and Dragon Age 4 at BioWare to The Sims 5 at Maxis. Jeff Karp will similarly continue to head up EA's mobile division.
This comes on the heels of reports that BioWare's making plans to give its Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO to a separate, third-party studio. Hopefully this all means that EA's studios will be able to focus on making the types of games they're best at.
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