Electronic Arts (EA) announced a new head of its mobile division in Samantha Ryan. Ryan will be in charge of the company’s ongoing efforts to expand its game development from consoles and PCs to smartphones and watches.
Ryan has been a recent addition to its mobile division, with her joining in March this year as SVP and group GM from Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment the film studio’s video game wing responsible for the Batman: Arkham adventure games and the fighting game series Mortal Kombat.
At EA, she has worked on some of the key titles like strategy game Plants vs. Zombies and a mobile version of simulation game The Sims.
Gibeau, EA Mobile’s previous chief, who was part of EA for 20 years left the company suddenly in May. Gibeau was considered a possible candidate to replace former CEO John Riccitiello after he left in 2013, but the chief executive job went to EA Sports head Andrew Wilson.
She is best known for an eight-year stretch as the president of Monolith Productions, during which it produced hits like The Operative: No One Lives Forever and F.E.A.R. During Ryan’s tenure, the developer was also acquired by Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment.
Ryan said that power of mobile could change how one develops the games and how developers reach out to new type of players.
“The power of mobile is that it not only changes how we make and play games, but it also expands our reach to entirely new types of players,” said Ryan in a statement.
EA Mobile began in 2004 and became well-known to early mobile gamers for refashioning puzzle game classics like Tetris and Bejeweled for flip-phones. With the advent of the smartphone, the division shifted more of its focus to turning its big-budget games, like the FIFA soccer franchise and its Need for Speed racing series, into smaller mobile versions that customers could play on touch screens.
EA currently has major titles on mobile which include FIFA 15 Ultimate Team, SimCity: Buildlt Peggle Blast, and the upcoming Minions Paradise. In its fiscal 2015 earnings, EA reported a record $524 million in sales generated from its mobile titles, largely from small purchases made within apps for items and other game add-ons.
