Electronic Arts chief design officer Patrick Söderlund is leaving the company later this year after a transition period of three months.
Söderlund was CEO of Battlefield developer DICE when EA acquired it in 2006, and since then he has moved up the ladder at EA. In 2016 he went from EA studios vice president to being the executive VP in charge of the newly created EA Worldwide Studios. In April, Söderlund was given his current position, making his last appointment a relatively short one.
While at EA one of Söderlund’s achievements was spreading DICE’s technology to the rest of the company. Currently DICE’s Frostbite engine is the anchor for a range of titles, including the Battlefield series, BioWare’s RPGs, Need For Speed, and the company’s sports games.
On the flip side, Söderlund was front and center for EA’s controversial attempts to monetize Star Wars: Battlefront II at the game’s launch, as well as the closing of Visceral Games and subsequent re-design of that internal studio’s story-based Star Wars title.
EA is making some changes because of Söderlund’s departure, including merging the EA Originals and EA Partners teams into the company’s Strategic Growth Group.
EA has not announced a successor for Söderlund at the time of this writing.
[Source: Electronic Arts]
Source: Game Informer Patrick Söderlund Leaving EA