EA Undergoes Massive Shakeup As It Separates EA Sports from EA Entertainment
EA has announced that it is essentially splitting into two key divisions: EA Sports and the newly named EA Entertainment. EA is one of the biggest gaming publishers out there, holding the keys to major sports franchises like Madden as well as huge IP like Battlefield. EA also struck a long-term deal with Disney to be the exclusive publisher of AAA Star Wars games and is still set to continue making more Star Wars games with a number of games in development at Respawn. EA has also been known to produce some smaller, more original titles like It Takes Two which have gone on to win all kinds of awards.
With that said, EA is shaking things up. It has announced that it is separating EA Sports from a brand it now calls as EA Entertainment. The separation is intended to give various, curated executives control over their respective sections/brands which will allow for more flexibility with budgets, decision making, and so on. In short, it's ultimately being done to allow more freedom for these two different sections of EA.
"Today, we are announcing the next step of our strategy by aligning our studios into two organizations that report to me — EA Entertainment and EA SPORTS," said CEO Andrew Wilson in an email to team members. 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. These steps will accelerate our business, drive growth, and deliver long-term value for our people, our players and our communities."
Some have speculated that EA may also be doing this to appear more lucrative for an acquisition. If say Microsoft hypothetically wanted to acquire EA Entertainment, it could do so without taking all of the sports franchises with it, something that may cause a lot of scrutiny with regulators. This is pure speculation, however, and EA has not indicated that it is looking to be acquired right now.
What do you think of EA's move? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @Cade_Onder.