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Australian Andrew Wilson named CEO of EA

Andrew Wilson, head of EA Sports, has stepped up to EA's CEO role in the wake of recent leadership shake-ups.

Nic Healey Senior Editor / Australia
Nic Healey is a Senior Editor with CNET, based in the Australia office. His passions include bourbon, video games and boring strangers with photos of his cat.
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Australian-born Andrew Wilson has been moved from his role as executive vice president of EA Sports to become the new CEO of Electronic Arts.

Wilson onstage at a UFC event. (Credit: Gamespot)

The 39-year-old has been with EA for 13 years, heading up projects such as the Origin digital distribution service, as well as sport franchises such as Madden and FIFA.

Speaking to The Wall Street Journal, Wilson said:

When I think about our vision for the future, we have a very strong strategy around the ongoing development of the most amazing teams in the world. We have a tremendous pipeline of intellectual property, both current and new intellectual property, and we have been making investments in our digital platform.

After former CEO John Riccitello's sudden departure in March, EA kicked off a six-month search for a new CEO, with EA chairmain Larry Probst sitting in the role in the interim. Multiple lay-offs occurred during this time.

On the EA official blog, Probst offered his support for Wilson: "To support Andrew in his transition to CEO, I will continue to serve as EA's executive chairman for an indefinite period."