Industry Moves: EA's Head Of Casual Games Resigns; Company Does Executive Shuffle
This story was written by Tameka Kee.
Kathy Vrabek has resigned as head of Electronic Arts' Casual Entertainment division, GameDaily reports, just 18 months after taking on the role during a massive reorg. Vrabek is leaving the company to pursue other opportunities, and her division, which was created to oversee the development and maintenance of properties like Pogo.com will be folded into the EA unit that handles The Sims franchise. Rod Humble, EVP and head of The Sims label, will lead the new combined unit, which also now includes oversight of EA's relationship with toy-maker Hasbro. Meanwhile:
Chip Lange will continue to head up the Hasbro division (which finally developed a "legit," though much-maligned, Scrabble game), but will also take charge of EA's Bright Light Studio, the unit behind games like Boom Blox and the Harry Potter franchise.
Russell Arons, will head up marketing for the new combined Casual/The Sims label. She'd most recently served as second-in-command under Vrabeck.
EA posted huge losses for Q3, lowered guidance and said it would be laying off six percent of its staff; this executive shuffle may not be a comforting sign for shareholders searching for signs of stability. But it may lend some credence to speculation that EA could be a prime acquisition target for an entertainment behemoth like Disney (NYSE: DIS) some time in the future.
By Tameka Kee