Peter Moore kickin' it at EA Sports

[UPDATE 3] Xbox 360's most public advocate to head third-party publisher's sports games arm; Don Mattrick named as replacement, Sony welcomes former rival.

Normally, the week after the Electronic Entertainment Expo is relatively quiet. This year, though, saw a bombshell rock the game industry four days after the E3 Media & Business Summit closed shop.

Goodbye Microsoft, hello EA Sports!

GameSpot has confirmed that Peter Moore, corporate vice president of the entertainment and devices division of Microsoft's interactive entertainment business, is quitting. The announcement comes less than one week after Moore hosted Microsoft's E3 press briefing. It also comes just under two weeks after he announced the extension of the Xbox 360's manufacturer's warranty to three years. Prompted by rising reports of hardware defects that Moore had previously downplayed, the move will cost Microsoft as much as $1.15 billion last quarter alone.

The closeness of the 360's warranty extension and Moore's departure has raised some eyebrows, given his prior steadfast dismissals and evasions on any 360 hardware issues. Even more ironic will be the fact that Moore's new gig will have him helping to hype games on the 360's archrivals--the PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii.

Electronic Arts has confirmed to GameSpot that Peter Moore has been tapped to become the new president of EA Sports. The move will put Moore in charge of one of the top third-party publisher's four divisions, which were established in a recent company-wide reorganization. EA Sports develops and publishes the popular Madden NFL, NBA Live, Tiger Woods, and FIFA franchise, as well as the just-released NCAA Football 08.

Though some might consider it a demotion, Moore's move is the latest chapter in a long and storied career in the game industry. Before becoming the Xbox's chief spokesperson in 2003, he was president and COO of Sega of America. During his tenure there, he presided over the Sonic Factory's transition from console-maker to third-party publisher in the wake of the Dreamcast's demise.

[UPDATE] Wasting no time in filling the abrupt vacancy, Microsoft also announced today that the reins for its interactive entertainment business have been passed to Don Mattrick. Altogether fitting in light of Moore's new digs, Mattrick served as Electronic Arts' president of worldwide studios until February 2006. The seasoned exec has been working as an external advisor for Microsoft's entertainment and devices division since February 2007, and will transition into his new role of senior vice president of interactive entertainment business effective July 30. Moore will remain at Microsoft through August to aid in Mattrick's transition.

[UPDATE 2] Moore's move was also greeted with kind words from a former archrival. Sony Computer Entertainment America president Jack Tretton issued a statement warmly welcoming Moore to EA Sports, which develops a range of PS3 titles. "We wish Peter the best of luck in his new role at Electronic Arts and look forward to working with him," he said. "We have an outstanding relationship with EA and their sports products have been incredibly successful on all our platforms. I am sure this will continue with Peter now at the helm."

[UPDATE 3] Last but not least, later in the day an EA SEC filing revealed Moore's generous salary package, which includes a $1.5 million signing bonus.

623 Comments

  • IMDLEGEND

    Posted Aug 14, 2007 8:38 am PT

    Say what you will about Peter Moore, his E3 presentations were the most entertaining. The tatoo reveals were priceless, and he is always willing to put himself out there, playing rock band at the latest E3. Although he has made some missteps along the way (we all remember his statements on Backwards Compatibility), Peter Moore is a man who isn't afraid to speak his mind (most of the time).

  • packernation31

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 3:45 pm PT

    so that's why he extended the warranty...

  • AndyTSJ

    Posted Aug 2, 2007 1:31 am PT

    Peter is a great guy, looking forward to see what he does at EA.

  • FoxMcCloudDS

    Posted Jul 30, 2007 4:13 am PT

    Peter was cool at Sega, not microsoft, not ea, not any of thoes. this is like Miyamoto going and working for capcom now...lol

  • FoxMcCloudDS

    Posted Jul 30, 2007 4:05 am PT

    I think nintendo should have tried to get him, although he wouldnt wana take george harrison's job... would he? they are moving to cali too!

  • staley6565

    Posted Jul 27, 2007 12:50 pm PT

    I'd have to say it'd be way more fun to work for EA, than MS, Sony, Nintendo, because of the simple fact that working for EA is neutral.

    You can say, "hey, we got great games coming on great consoles, you should buy the ones you like", instead of "Our console is better for this reason, and the rumors of this and that are false, and we're currently fixing blah blah" (The kinds of statements each console maker has to come across hundreds of times).

    I ended up taking a job for less money to live near my family, so maybe that's a bigger reason he's with EA than money.

  • Esoteric4x

    Posted Jul 27, 2007 11:16 am PT

    How is he a weasel for taking a job that pays him more? You boobs! Like you wouldn't take it. Plus I heard his family lives in San Fran so that's a bonus on top of the cash.

  • bigpimppapa

    Posted Jul 27, 2007 10:40 am PT

    He is a weasel no loyalty, it is not like MICROSOFT wasn't paying this guy. Greed is the most important part of the gaming industry.

  • jorranvv

    Posted Jul 26, 2007 12:48 am PT

    $$$ It`s all about the money$$$

  • TehPickle

    Posted Jul 25, 2007 9:59 pm PT

    As far as being the "face of 360" went, I actually quite liked Peter Moore. I find it a little sad that he's going to work for the sequel factory but if it's making him a ton of cash, then best of luck to him.

  • DeadBullet

    Posted Jul 25, 2007 8:19 pm PT

    Why cant you ****** sony fanboys understand that Peter Moore didnt left MS cause it sucks, or cause its sinking, its because of MONEY, EA will pay him better than MS did. And why on god name are you sony fanboys saying MS is sinking, I mean, you should be informed before posting any stupid comments like those, please sony fanboys just go and get smarter.

  • miiiguel

    Posted Jul 25, 2007 8:12 pm PT

    I'm so confused, who's the evil empire now?, it used to be, well... always MS (u'r supposed to bash, right?), then EA and PEter More was pretty bad too..., now..., is EA cool again, and P. More is oh so amazing ? What about almighty Sony?, is it ok to like or not? hummm, I miss the days we played games.

  • miiiguel

    Posted Jul 25, 2007 8:05 pm PT

    GC4ever: what war ? Is there a war going on ?

  • ZoSo1975

    Posted Jul 24, 2007 11:30 pm PT

    Go Peter! Follow those $$$ and abandon the sinking ship known as Microsoft's gaming division.

  • Suyomizzle_

    Posted Jul 24, 2007 1:08 pm PT

    O_0

    This comes as a big shock to me. I wonder what that indicates about Microsoft's future success.

  • GC4ever

    Posted Jul 24, 2007 11:46 am PT

    well looks like he'll have to shove his foot in his mouth now!!!!!
    to bad microsoft you're losing the war now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • HotRod2142

    Posted Jul 23, 2007 4:52 pm PT

    MedevilDragon what are u talking about last I heard Microsoft was the evil empire before that it was IBM

  • munsoned

    Posted Jul 23, 2007 2:18 pm PT

    i`ll laugh if peter makes jack put a petter more tattoo on his arm. in order to get a madden game

  • nonsoville2

    Posted Jul 23, 2007 11:05 am PT

    Yay! Go Moore

  • cvilmann

    Posted Jul 23, 2007 9:44 am PT

    The sad reality in all this is that Microsoft could very well end up purchasing EA seeing their net worth is 265.46 billion dollars, which is more than enough to buy out EA's net worht of 5 billion dollars. The question is will EA sell?
    http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070712221425AA4RoKr

  • mark_unix

    Posted Jul 23, 2007 7:11 am PT

    HAMMER261266 Microsoft isn't rich enough to buy EA..

  • Yoshikilla26

    Posted Jul 22, 2007 6:41 pm PT

    "EA Sports develops and publishes the popular Madden NFL, NBA Live, Tiger Woods, and FIFA franchise, as well as the just-released NCAA Football 08."

    Where's NHL ?!?!

  • smoothn00dle

    Posted Jul 22, 2007 3:58 am PT

    @n00b Not possible yet but this could happen. Moore will side with M$ for sure. If 360 goes down, he will look bad even he is in EA. Ask him about Sega experience *v* ======================================================
    There is a power struggle between third party developers and console companies. Third party with M$ want power to influence the hardware business just like M$ did with PC. Hardware and first party want to stay the same which is nothing wrong with it, too. My bet is on Nintendo and Sony.

  • ---n00b_kid---

    Posted Jul 22, 2007 12:34 am PT

    Sounds like Jack Tretton is anxious and wants EA to continue making games for the PS3. He is worried that Peter Moore might do a deal with EA that would bring exclusive EA games to the 360.

  • DiscGuru101

    Posted Jul 21, 2007 11:21 pm PT

    Interesting news. -I have yet to buy a single EA Sports game.

  • spidey008

    Posted Jul 21, 2007 6:27 am PT

    Peter Moore is a good face in the gaming community. I'm sure he will be successful at EA, but I hate to see him go.

  • smoothn00dle

    Posted Jul 21, 2007 12:30 am PT

    Peter Moore don't want 360 to fail that will make him look bad even he is in EA. Sony responded to release their own sport's game NBA08 is one example.

  • termadoyle

    Posted Jul 21, 2007 12:25 am PT

    good for Peter moore. He's a nice, energetic and cool guy. I know he'll be successful anywhere he goes. I'll miss his tattoo gigs at E3.

  • Packt

    Posted Jul 20, 2007 10:08 pm PT

    Lol so my guess is he got the offer to go to EA and then decided it was a good time for the 3 year warranty so he could quit and not deal with it. Sweet.

  • Dryker

    Posted Jul 20, 2007 10:07 pm PT

    He has a job to make money. Whomever will pay him the most, he will most likely work for. The fact that he was offered more money than he is currently making means that he must have done a good job and left his former employer in a stronger position due to his involvment or he wouldn't be as coveted. It is so funny how so many people regard gaming news in the exact opposite way it should be. Oh, yeah, and concerning Sony's warm welcome of Peter Moore is only glaringly expected, NOT ironic or surprising. Peter Moore served Microsoft for a nice chunk of time and may have made some strong bonds in the process that may influence his business decisions as President of EA Sports. Sony, enjoying a healthy revenue stream from this very same publisher would be remiss if they didn't welcome Moore as warmly as they could in order to garner as much positive regard as a future business partner. I'll miss Peter Moore, but am sure his replacement will do a fine job as well.

  • saannin

    Posted Jul 20, 2007 7:40 pm PT

    i hear Moore's getting a total of over 2 million dollars!! (heard from g4 tv).

  • ctg867

    Posted Jul 20, 2007 12:22 pm PT

    I'm gonna really miss Peter saying:

    "And this game will coming EXCLUSIVELY to the Xbox 360."

    He was probably the best spokes person at these press conferences, and always gave the crowd a good laugh and something to cheer about (see: tattoos and playing Rock Band). And from what I've heard, he did a pretty damn good job as a VP as well.

    The Sony thing was a low blow though. "We're glad to have him working with us." I love my 360 and the games on it, but this just isn't a good time for the Xbox: X07 is canceled, they just lost 1.89 billion, more then a million of which had to to with the warranty, and them semi-admitting they're consoles are all broken, Sony had a much better E3 then they did, Wii is still gaining ground, then no more Peter Moore.

    *Moment of silence for Peter Moore leaving MS*

  • Tronofake

    Posted Jul 20, 2007 10:25 am PT

    hahahaha peter dam moore its kinda funny when u think about it

  • MedevilDragon

    Posted Jul 20, 2007 9:23 am PT

    He sold out to the evil ea empire.

  • paranoiasurviva

    Posted Jul 20, 2007 12:10 am PT

    Hey.... money talks.

  • EL_Punisher85

    Posted Jul 19, 2007 10:42 pm PT

    HOPEFULLY THERE WILL BE MORE LEAGUES ON THIS FIFA08 EDITION AND MORE MINI GAMES LIKE IT HAS ON THE PSP GAME FOR THE FIFA07 GAME WELL ANY WHO I CANT WAIT TILL IT COMES OUT LATA PEEPS!

  • rendifference

    Posted Jul 19, 2007 8:36 pm PT

    time for J allard to RISE.

  • PapaGlide

    Posted Jul 19, 2007 6:18 pm PT

    this spokes people really get da money

  • danalfmon

    Posted Jul 19, 2007 5:21 pm PT

    Peter Moore is laughing all the way to the bank.

  • McGregor

    Posted Jul 19, 2007 2:42 pm PT

    Wow, so many different reasons why people think this happened. I wonder if he just wanted to get out of the hardware/software biz, and just do software. Although the idea of firing him is possible, it sounds like microsoft didn't really see it coming either. Unless microsoft planned to delay the replacement announcement so it would look like peter moore left willingly. So many options, so much information that we just don't know. What we do know is that he won't be on hard times with that 1.5 mil signing bonus!

  • uncledeath2005

    Posted Jul 19, 2007 1:11 pm PT

    This is interesting.....the man is clearly a mole

  • mixdbreh

    Posted Jul 19, 2007 1:03 pm PT

    Dis Game Is Gna B Sikker Dan Lan

  • Samurai_Budgie

    Posted Jul 19, 2007 12:25 pm PT

    Sports games are still going to be on PS3, Moore isnt a 360 fanboy, Never was - He was just doing his job in promoting the console. Plus his new job at EA means he needs to make money for EA so needs to put games on all platforms, In the bigger scheme of things nothings going to be any different from usual as far as plain ole' gamers are concerned.

  • HAMMER261266 posted Jul 19, 2007 10:43 am PT (does not meet display criteria. login to show)

    HAMMER261266

    Posted Jul 19, 2007 10:43 am PT (hide)

    Could Microsoft eventually buy EA?

  • yinyang3

    Posted Jul 19, 2007 9:40 am PT

    Same thing happened to me when he left SEGA. I was distraught, but I got used to it after a while. I can't wait to see what he does at EA.

  • dragkill

    Posted Jul 19, 2007 8:17 am PT

    " Just another example as to why gaming companies are little more than companies. Money rules in these instances. Often times, it's easier for us to view representatives as honest advocates of corporations rather than people simply performing their jobs. Were I paid the same as they, I'd probably do the same. In businesses like GameStop or Game Crazy, district managers as well as lower level management positions are employed based on sales ability rather than game-love or knowledge. People should get used to it. It's not about us, the gamers, necessarily. It's about profit"

    Thank you. Someone speaks sense than the whole siding with 1 company crap that i see in like 1 out of every 4 comment posts.

    On top of that, if there's people like kobebryantyanic online with a PS3, i'm sticking with offline games. I've been playing resistance online for a bit of time, and i can't play it without mic muting everyone...

  • dekomania

    Posted Jul 19, 2007 7:26 am PT

    BsDEEPinyourA >>
    Remember the last few things he said before he went to EA, was that he wants Final Fantasy 13 on 360. Now he is in better position ito make that happen, by stopping Madden from comming to PS3. Sony can't let that happen and might be willing to convince Square to make a 360 version. Come on man! You can't really think Madden is more important then FF... In this case: NOT HAPPENING
    Just my opinion. Not bashing

  • snarple_basic

    Posted Jul 19, 2007 7:23 am PT

    Brilliant, it looks like this is Microsoft's super sneaky plan to have Peter Moore take out Sony's realationship with EA... This Peter Moore guy is one sneaky guy, it seems like he took it personal when sony took out the dreamcast and is totally going after sony with every sneaky idea he can think of. Sony be afraid be very afraid lol.

  • Extreme124

    Posted Jul 19, 2007 7:22 am PT

    Peter Moore changed the face & ways of Microsoft which no1 could do so how will M$ cope with this loss, Now EA will get him & we may see games get real better as EA need a lot of work on their games. Good Luck, Peter Moore

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