Electronic Arts Reorganizes

The latest move also comes on the heels of the creation of one of the four divisions, EA Casual Entertainment, earlier this month to develop and publish games for the fast-growing casual games market.

EA hired Kathy Vrabeck, former president of publishing at Activision(ATVI) for the job.

Shares of EA closed the regular session off 78 cents to $49.71.

Each label or division, said EA, will operate with a dedicated studio and publishing teams that previously reported to the CEO. "Now both will be integrated and that allows for more autonomy and removes bottlenecks in the creation process," says Gibeau.

The Sims division will be led by Nancy Smith, who has been the executive vice-president and general manager of the unit. Upcoming releases from the label include MySims for the Wii and Nintendo DS, SimCity Societies and The Sims Castaway Stories.

EA Games, the label led by Gibeau, will have the largest portfolio of EA franchises including Need for Speed, Medal of Honor, Spore, Command & Conquer and The Simpsons among others. EA Games will also be home to the EA Partners publishing business.

EA Casual Entertainment's lighter games for families and new consumers will include titles such as the Harry Potter series and Boogie. The group will also host EA Mobile and EA's casual suite of online games, Pogo.com.

EA Sports, the company's strongest brand, which includes franchises such as Madden NFL, NBA Live, FIFA Soccer and Tiger Woods PGA Tour will be overseen by Executive V.P. Joel Linzner until an EA Sports president is announced.

There will be no layoffs associated with the reorganization, says Gibeau, and the changes will be implemented over the next few months.

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