Exclusive: Connie Booth, One of the Chief Architects of PlayStation's First-Party Studio System, Is Joining EA

Former PlayStation executive Connie Booth, one of the chief architects of PlayStation's first-party strategy before her unexpected departure in 2023, is joining EA to help lead its studios amid its ongoing restructure. Booth's title will be Group General Manager, Action RPG, with a portfolio that will include EA Motive (Iron Man), Cliffhanger (Black Panther), and BioWare (Dragon Age, Mass Effect). She will report directly to EA Entertainment head Laura Miele. "Connie spent more than 30 years helping to build Sony Interactive Entertainment’s internal studios and is responsible for guiding the development of some of their biggest franchises, including Marvel’s Spider-Man 1 & 2, The Last of Us, Ghost of Tsushima, Uncharted, Ratchet and Clank, to name just a few," Miele said in a statement. "She is known for having created an incredible developer-first culture and supporting creative vision while driving innovation. I have known Connie for many years and have always been impressed by her love and commitment to games. She especially cares about game developers. She has an impeccable reputation within the development community and will undoubtedly have a positive impact on our games." Connie spent more than 30 years helping to build Sony Interactive Entertainment’s internal studios and is responsible for guiding the development of some of their biggest franchises Booth is a member of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Science Hall of Fame, having joined Sony in 1989 and worked especially closely with Naughty Dog. As Direct of Product Development she is credited with helping to build the studio system that has carried PlayStation through roughly 30 years in the console market. She departed Sony in 2023 amid unusual circumstances, with neither Booth nor PlayStation clarifying the reason for her exit. Sony eventually released a statement wishing her well but providing no further details. Booth's hiring points to EA's desire to replicate some of PlayStation's current exclusives strategy, in which it has found success with large-scale single-player games such as God of War and Spider-Man. In initiating its current restructure, EA has said that it is prioritizing its own franchises and that one of its pillars is "blockbuster storytelling" — an area in which Booth has considerable experience. One of Booth's major tasks will be revitalizing BioWare, which is hoping that Dragon Age: Dreadwolf will reverse its fortunes after Anthem and Mass Effect: Andromeda. BioWare suffered painful layoffs in 2023 and its next entry in the Mass Effect franchise remains in pre-production. Elsewhere, Cliffhanger Games is a relatively new studio that opened in 2023 and is working on a new Black Panther game, while EA Motive was founded by Jade Ryamond before her departure in 2018 and is currently working on Iron Man. Like the rest of the games industry, EA is currently undergoing layoffs as part of its restructure that has resulted in around 670 workers losing their jobs. EA also closed down Ridgeline Games and canceled Respawn's Star Wars FPS. The layoffs are expected to be completed by the end of the month.