John Schappert was the chief operating officer for Electronic Arts (EA). According to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Schappert resigned from the company on Monday.
Schappert, who worked for EA in 1991 as a software engineer, took a break from EA to work with Microsoft for a number of years. He returned to EA in 2009 to fill the number two spot left vacant when John Pleasants left EA for social firm Playdom. In the 22 months since he took the position, Schappert has spearheaded the company’s move into mobile device gaming and social gaming. According to EA, they are set to generate $750 million this year.
Reuters reported that Schappert is headed to Zynga, a social gaming company, to head up their game division. The four year old company has been paving the way to grow into a competitive gaming business. According to analysts at ThinkEquity, Zynga is preparing for an IPO.
Michael Pachter of Wedbush Securities stated that the addition of Schappert to the list of leading men at Zynga is an instrumental move for the company. According to Pachter, Schappert is the “guy to give them what they were missing” in the way of public management experience.
The rumor is that Zynga is going public. Though not confirmed, analysts from Wedbush Securities and ThinkEquity say that Mark Pincus, founder of Zynga, has been taking strides necessary for an initial public offering. Hiring a face like John Schappert is just another step towards that public offering. If and when Zynga will actually go public, however, is yet to be discovered.
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