Video-games boss leaving Microsoft

Peter Moore, Microsoft's video-games boss, will leave the company to head the sports label of leading publisher Electronic Arts, Microsoft announced today.

Moore, whose responsibilities at Microsoft extended to everything gaming — including the Xbox and Games for Windows — will be replaced by Don Mattrick, a games-industry veteran who spent much of his career at EA.

Moore joined Microsoft in 2003. He will leave the company in August and gave his last interview on behalf of Microsoft at last week's E3 Media & Business Summit, said Molly O'Donnell, spokeswoman for Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division.

O'Donnell said Moore's decision to resign was a personal one. He notified Entertainment and Devices Division President Robbie Bach "a few weeks ago."

Mattrick began working for Microsoft as an outside adviser in February to help with the company's "connected entertainment" strategy. He previously worked at EA for 23 years.

Asked if Moore's departure had anything to do with the "unacceptable" failure rate of the Xbox 360 console, which caused Microsoft to extend the warranty on the system to three years at a cost of more than $1 billion, O'Donnell said "absolutely not."

She reiterated that Moore made the choice to leave for personal reasons.

"Peter has been looking to get back to the Bay Area and looking at opportunities there," she said. "EA has just recently decided to reorganize into the four labels. He was the perfect guy for the job."

On June 18, EA announced a reorganization, dividing the company into four game labels, each with its own studio and publishing arm. Moore, who was the chief operating officer at Sega before coming to Microsoft, will head EA Sports.

Benjamin J. Romano: bromano@seattletimes.com