EA Play boss to join Zynga - Report

Electronic Arts has had a tough time retaining high-level employees lately. In the past few months alone, chief operating officer John Schappert, several high-level EA Sports staffers, and Play4Free general manager Ben Cousins all parted ways with the company. Now, it appears another high-ranking staffer is leaving the Battlefield, Sims, and Mass Effect publisher.

According to a Develop report, which cites an unnamed US source, EA's executive vice president of the Play label, Jeff Karp, is leaving the company to join FarmVille creator Zynga. The source, who reportedly "engages with EA at senior levels," claims Karp will "imminently" join the San Francisco-based casual game maker.

Develop's source claims Karp's departure from EA is part of the company's senior management shake-up, which saw Frank Gibeau get promoted to president of EA Labels, Peter Moore rise to the chief operating officer position, and Barry Cottle assume the responsibility of heading up EA Interactive.

Karp had been with EA for 11 years and his role as EVP of the Play label had him overseeing the family-friendly business unit that includes The Sims Studio, MySims, EA's Hasbro titles, Maxis, and others. As of press time, EA had not responded to GameSpot's request for comment.