More EA @ MS (and Ubisoft)
Today, we’re announcing the appointment of John Schappert to Don Mattrick’s management team, as Corporate VP of LIVE, software and services. In this new role, John will oversee all platform technologies and businesses, including console software, Xbox LIVE and Games for Windowsâ€â€LIVE, XNA, and our efforts with simple, approachable pick up and play games.
As you might know, John comes to us from EA, where he’s been pretty busy, with things like managing EA’s worldwide portfolio of 13 studios, releasing over 100 SKUs (including leading dev and production for Madden NFL, Need for Speed and Fight Night), and managing almost 5,000 full-time employees.
More information is available in the press release we just sent out.
This is what I was afraid of when Don Mattrick was named the new leader of the Entertainment division at Microsoft. Now he’s putting all his old friends from EA in-charge of everything over at Microsoft’s Xbox division. Yeah, let’s not promote from within the company, let’s bring in people because you know them from before. This new guy, John Schappert, is a senior VP and Chief Operating Officer over at EA, and has been up until now, so don’t think he is somehow removed from EA’s (even more) rampant greed and corruption over the past couple years. Don Mattrick on the other hand had been gone from EA for a while. I don’t understand why the Xbox division is allowing itself to be over-run by EA, one of the main cancers to the gaming industry, but if they allow these guys to begin running the Xbox brand, and Xbox Live, the way they ran things over at EA, then Microsoft might as well just accept 3rd place in the console race from now on. No one is going to accept EA’s ways when it comes to an over-arching console/online plan, the segment of the industry they control is big enough as it is.
In related news, EA has continued their assault on one of their biggest rivals, Ubisoft. Of course they are not assaulting them by delivering quality games to compete with, they’re simply going to use money to get their way, as usual.
IGN.com - EA Tightens Hold on Ubisoft
August 8, 2007 - Electronic Arts has raised its holding of voting shares in Ubisoft to nearly 25 percent, according to reports from French stock market regulator AMF.
First reported on Forbes.com Wednesday morning, the increase gives EA 24.86 percent of Ubisoft’s voting shares.
In December 2004, EA bought a 20-percent block of the French game maker, a move considered hostile by Ubisoft at the time. The purchase gave EA 18.4 percent of the voting rights against 22.8 percent held by Ubisoft’s founders.
Calls and emails to EA and Ubisoft requesting comment about the development were not returned Wednesday, and it was unclear if Ubisoft’s founders or other shareholders saw a similar increase in voting shares.
Last year, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemote admitted that if EA is committed to acquiring Ubisoft, the French publisher would have little recourse. “We are not safe from a hostile action from Electronic Arts,†he said.
- UNSCleric.com: 12.18.06: Electronic Arts May Buy Ubisoft
You would hope that someone would stand up to EA one of these days, but it seems everybody is content in just letting them seep into their companies. (Thanks to Bluetane for the IGN story.)
In other news, a demo for Stranglehold is now available. This week’s Arcade title Track and Field is online as well.