Former PlayStation government Connie Booth, one of the chief architects of PlayStation's first-party technique earlier than her sudden departure in 2023, is becoming a member of EA to assist lead its studios amid its ongoing restructure.
Booth's title shall be Group General Manager, Action RPG, with a portfolio that may embrace EA Motive (Iron Man), Cliffhanger (Black Panther), and BioWare (Dragon Age, Mass Effect). She will report on to EA Entertainment head Laura Miele.
"Connie spent more than 30 years helping to build Sony Interactive Entertainment’s internal studios and is responsible for guiding the development of some of their biggest franchises, including Marvel’s Spider-Man 1 & 2, The Last of Us, Ghost of Tsushima, Uncharted, Ratchet and Clank, to name just a few," Miele mentioned in a press release.
"She is known for having created an incredible developer-first culture and supporting creative vision while driving innovation. I have known Connie for many years and have always been impressed by her love and commitment to games. She especially cares about game developers. She has an impeccable reputation within the development community and will undoubtedly have a positive impact on our games."
Booth is a member of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Science Hall of Fame, having joined Sony in 1989 and labored particularly intently with Naughty Dog. As Direct of Product Development she is credited with serving to to construct the studio system that has carried PlayStation by means of roughly 30 years in the console market. She departed Sony in 2023 amid uncommon circumstances, with neither Booth nor PlayStation clarifying the motive for her exit. Sony finally released a statement wishing her nicely however offering no additional particulars.
Booth's hiring factors to EA's want to duplicate some of PlayStation's present exclusives technique, through which it has discovered success with large-scale single-player video games similar to God of War and Spider-Man. In initiating its present restructure, EA has mentioned that it’s prioritizing its personal franchises and that one of its pillars is "blockbuster storytelling" — an area in which Booth has considerable experience.
One of Booth's main duties shall be revitalizing BioWare, which is hoping that Dragon Age: Dreadwolf will reverse its fortunes after Anthem and Mass Effect: Andromeda. BioWare suffered painful layoffs in 2023 and its subsequent entry in the Mass Effect franchise stays in pre-production. Elsewhere, Cliffhanger Games is a relatively new studio that opened in 2023 and is engaged on a brand new Black Panther game, whereas EA Motive was based by Jade Ryamond earlier than her departure in 2018 and is at the moment engaged on Iron Man.
Like the relaxation of the video games trade, EA is at the moment present process layoffs as half of its restructure that has resulted in around 670 workers losing their jobs. EA additionally closed down Ridgeline Games and canceled Respawn's Star Wars FPS. The layoffs are anticipated to be accomplished by the finish of the month.
Kat Bailey is IGN's News Director in addition to co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.