A major reorganization was announced at EA recently, where Mythic and BioWare would be combined into a single unit led by BioWare co-founders Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk. Mark Jacobs, General Manager of Mythic, was announced to be leaving the company, leading to almost immediate reports suggesting that Mythic employees were shocked by the move and fueling speculation over whether the departure was voluntary.
Today, Jacobs spoke out public on the matter in his blog [thanks MMORPG.com]. He was grateful to his colleagues in the field, though he implied that this move may have been due to forces outside of his control. "After 15 years of leading Mythic Entertainment, my time with the studio (and EA of course) I co-founded with Rob Denton has come to an end," wrote Jacobs. "Early in May, Electronic Arts let me know that they wanted to make some changes within the Games Label and as a result of those changes I have been out of the office (and out of touch with the team, game, etc.) since that day."
Jacobs refused to badmouth EA, adding, "If you are looking or expecting me to damn EA or anyone there, you will be sorely disappointed. Over my 23 years of making games professionally I have refrained from attacking the competition, former and/or current partners, other game developers, etc. except on a few very rare instances. I have no intention of breaking with tradition at the present time and I hope my track record in this regard remains unchanged for the rest of my career."
It seems like the powers that be at EA (namely CEO John Riccitiello) had a particular management structure in mind, which has led to moves like Rob Denton replacing Mark Jacobs at Mythic and John Schappert filling the COO role made vacant by John Pleasants.
