Electronic Arts’ Game Studio President Resigns

Electronic Arts Inc., the largest U.S. video-game publisher, said Friday that game studio President Don Mattrick resigned and would be replaced by Paul Lee.

Mattrick, 41, is leaving to pursue other opportunities, Redwood City, Calif.-based Electronic Arts said in a statement. Lee, 40, previously served as chief operating officer of the company’s game development studios.

Lee will assume control of 11 worldwide game development studios as the company spends more to develop new titles for next-generation consoles made by Sony Corp. and Microsoft Corp. Electronic Arts, whose games include “The Sims” and “Tiger Woods PGA Tour,” reported its first quarterly net loss in three years July 26 as sales dropped 16%.

“Anytime you lose someone of that caliber, it’s a loss to the company,” Chief Executive Larry Probst said. The challenge is to “continue to build new products and get positioned to be successful for new technologies.”

Mattrick is evaluating his next step and hasn’t accepted a job elsewhere, Electronic Arts spokeswoman Trudy Muller said.

Shares of Electronic Arts fell 52 cents to $57.42. They have dropped 6.9% this year.

Mattrick joined Electronic Arts in 1991, when the company acquired Distinctive Software Inc., the firm he founded. Mattrick served as president of Electronic Arts worldwide studios since 1997.

Lee, also a former employee of Distinctive Software, joined Electronic Arts in 1991. He previously served as general manager of EA Canada.

David Gardner, formerly senior vice president of international publishing, will assume Lee’s role as chief operating officer of EA’s game studios.

EA in July delayed the release of “The Godfather” until 2006 because it needed more time to develop the game. That contributed to the company lowering its revenue forecast for the year to $3.3 billion to $3.4 billion from a previous estimate of as much as $3.5 billion.