Playfish co-founder leaves EA to go back to startups

Kristian Segerstrale, Playfish co-founder and executive vice president of Digital at Electronic Arts, is moving on.

TechCrunch published an internal memo sent by EA chief John Riccitiello yesterday announcing Segerstrale's departure. In the letter, Riccitiello said that the Playfish co-founder has "elected to return the world of startups where we first met him."

Segerstrale confirmed the news on his Twitter feed yesterday, but declined to say where he might be headed.

Segerstrale was one of the founders of Playfish, the social-game developer that EA acquired in 2009 for $400 million. He stayed on at EA, helping the company establish its digital strategy and deliver Origin, the company's digital-delivery platform.

Now that Segerstrale is out, EA has decided to put the Digital business under the leadership of COO Peter Moore. With Digital now under his direction, Moore is in charge of all of EA's revenue generators -- physical goods and digital -- globally.