While the gaming industry continues to adjust during economic uncertainty, it appears that the demise of the EA Casual Entertainment label may be an unlikely early victim. Yet, according to a trusted GameDaily BIZ source, Kathy Vrabeck, president of the Casual Entertainment label that includes top-ranked Pogo.com, has resigned after 18 months in order to seek a new opportunity outside EA.
Rather than replace Vrabeck, EA CEO John Riccitiello announced to employees on Wednesday that her label would merge with The Sims label, citing similarities between the company's Casual and Sims labels. With that
announcement, EA will be making several changes by elevating several long-term employees.
-- Rod Humble, the former head of the EverQuest studio who later joined The Sims team in 2004, will lead the combined label. Humble was recently elevated to executive vice president and head of The Sims label in early October 2008 as former Sims lead and EA vet Nancy Smith was promoted to another executive position within EA.
-- Chip Lange, a 17-year EA vet will report to Humble and continue to oversee EA's relationship with toy and board gaming powerhouse, Hasbro. He will also provide leadership for EA's Bright Light Studio, known for creating games like Boom Blox and Harry Potter. With the change, Harvey Elliot (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Burnout 3: Takedown) and Scott Walker (Spider-Man 3, Pirates of the Burning Sea) will join Lange's team as direct reports.
-- Russell Arons, the former number two in the EA Casual Label and former VP/GM for the Barbie label at Mattel, gains a new role for leading marketing for the combined label.
Riccitiello, in a memo to EA employees on Wednesday, stated that several other reports regarding other EA Casual label leaders will be made in the future.
Update: EA has now confirmed the news with us. A spokesperson provided us with this statement: "We've learned a lot about casual entertainment in the past two years, and found that casual gaming defies a single genre and demographic. With Kathy's departure, EA is reorganizing to integrate casual games -- development and marketing -- into other divisions of our business. We are merging our Casual Studios, Hasbro partnership, and Casual marketing organization with The Sims Label to be a new Sims and Casual Label, where there is a deep compatibility in the product design, marketing and demographics."
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