EA Sports Reorganizes In Wake of NBA Elite 11 Cancellation

Electronic Arts has reportedly consolidated its EA Sports development into one cross-developer team, eliminating general manager positions at EA Tiburon and EA Canada in the wake of last week's cancellation of NBA Elite 11. Unnamed sources tell 1UP that each EA Sports franchise will now have its own general manager that will oversee content creation across multiple studios, similar to the structure the publisher is using for Visceral's upcoming Dead Space 2. These managers will reportedly work under EA Sports Senior VP Andrew Wilson, who reports directly to EA Sports president and public face Peter Moore. "We're making organizational changes to our development team at EA Sports that will be better for the franchises and better for our people," an EA spokesperson said in a statement to 1UP. "We continue to proactively evolve our team to better position ourselves with improved product quality and growth in revenue for our shareholders, to share technology and lower our development costs, and to pioneer new innovation in digital experiences for our consumers. "As part of this transition, we have eliminated the site-based GM roles at EAC and Tiburon," the statement concludes. Former EA Canada GM Moira Dang is reportedly no longer with the company in the wake of this restructuring, while EA has confirmed that former EA Tiburon GM Philip Holt is "considering other options with the company." The reorganization comes a week after the previously delayed NBA Elite 11 was officially cancelled amidst reported problems with the game's development at EA Black Box. Though Electronic Arts recently reportedly let go "as many as 100 employees" as part of a cycle of "seasonal roll-offs," EA CFO Eric Brown said that move was "not a major personnel reorganization."