John Schappert, the driving force behind many of Microsoft's best-selling games, has gone back to his former employer, Electronic Arts.
Schappert has been tapped as Electronic Arts' chief operating officer, effective July 14, replacing John Pleasants. As COO, Schappert will oversee the company's global online, interactive and publishing divisions.
In his two-year tenure as corporate vice president of the Interactive Entertainment Business (IEB) at Microsoft, Schappert was credited with boosting Xbox Live sales and led the development of other popular games including Halo, Motorsport and Gears of War.
Schappert is no stranger to Electronic Arts, where he started out as a software engineer in 1991. Schappert helped create must-have games such as Madden NFL Sports and NHL Hockey. However, he was wooed away by Microsoft in 2007. Microsoft said in a statement Thursday that it is not replacing Schappert.
The departure comes just weeks after Microsoft unveiled a beta version of Project Natal, system that lets users play without a controller through face recognition that is captured on a 3-D motion capture camera.
Pleasants is leaving Microsoft for online startup Mountain View, Calif.-based Playdom, where he will take on the role of CEO. The company is best known for creating gaming services for MySpace. While at Electronic Arts, Pleasants was responsible for overseeing games such as Pogo and Rupture. Playdom co-founder and CEO Dan Yue will take the position of chief product officer.
"Online gaming is the fastest-growing sector of the gaming industry, and social gaming, in particular, is transforming the way people play and experience games," Pleasants said in a statement. "Playdom is also an angel- and self-funded growth company, making it a standout in any industry."
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