John Riccitiello’s departure from EA has been a high-profile event, and naturally when a high-profile CEO departs there’s always somebody ready to anonymously put the knife in.

One ex-EA executive, speaking anonymously to GamesIndustry International, described Riccitiello as ‘the reason EA stopped kicking ass’.

“Riccitiello lost money every single year he was at EA while I was there, (and probably every other year he was there too). He just didn’t know anything about games, or rather, interactive entertainment in general,” said the anonymous ex-exec.

“After I left, he was gone for a while… [then] Riccitiello came back, but since he hadn’t learned anything as a VC guy, he really didn’t bring anything of value with him the first or the second time. He’s much more obnoxious than impressive.”

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Big changes are in the works today at Electronic Arts as John Riccitiello resigns his CEO position. In his resignation letter, Riccitiello cites his personal responsibility for the failure of the company to meet financial guidance.

“This is a tough decision, but it all comes down to accountability,” said Riccitiello. “The progress EA has made on transitioning to digital games and services is something I’m extremely proud of. However, it currently looks like we will come in at the low end of, or slightly below, the financial guidance we issued in January, and we have fallen short of the internal operating plan we set one year ago.”

“EA’s shareholders and employees expect better, and I am accountable for the miss.”

A successor has not been named at this early stage, but Riccitiello is hoping to “allow the talented leaders at EA a clean start on FY14″.

Source: VG247