Report: EA Mobile Boss Steps Down After Jamdat Acquisition

Following the acquisition of major wireless publisher Jamdat last week, consumer website GameSpot is reporting that existing EA Mobile vice president and general manager John Batter has resigned to pursue other opportunities. According to the report, Batter is to return to DreamWorks Animation, where he previously worked on features Antz and Shrek, before initially joining Electronic Arts’ Los Angeles studio as general manager. Electronic Arts staff were apparently notified of Batter’s resignation in an internal e-mail on Friday, which went out of its way to stress that the departure was not acrimonious. Following the acquisition, which was worth $680 million, Jamdat CEO Mitch Lasky had already been announced as taking over as head of Electronic Arts’ worldwide mobile games studio, which will marry both companies’ development assets into one entity. Speaking directly after the acquisition announcement, Lasky commented, “We think the combination of EA and Jamdat will benefit our shareholders. The combination of EA and EA Sports, along with Jamdat's casual blockbusters like Tetris, Bejeweled and Jamdat Bowling, will create a powerful product line-up."