Peter Moore resigns from Microsoft, heads to EA

Rumours have been flying for the last few days that Peter Moore, the tattooed Vice President of Interactive Entertainment Business for Microsoft, may well be resigning from his position as one of Bill Gates' most trusted generals and will be taking his burly biceps elsewhere.

Well, those rumours are now officially true.

Moore and Microsoft have announced that Moore will be leaving to take up a position in charge of EA Sports, citing personal reasons for relocation as an explanation for the move:

"Peter Moore, who currently serves as corporate vice president of IEB, has decided to move his family back to the Bay Area for personal reasons and has secured another opportunity in the video games industry." Reads the press release.

Moore will ironically be replaced by the rather bland looking Dan Mattrick, who previously worked as President of EA and now functions as an external advisor for Microsoft.

So, EA and Microsoft are doing the ol' switcherooney on us then. Looks like Microsoft is going to be sad to see Moore, who had become something of a figurehead for console gamers, make the move to EA Sports:

"Peter has contributed enormously to the games business since joining Microsoft in 2003 and we are sad to see him go," said Robbie Bach, president of Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft.

Not everyone is sad about the move though, with Jack Tretton of SCEA offering congratulations and saying he is looking forward to working with his old rival on PlayStation 3 titles in the future.

Moore himself will likely be more than chuffed with the move too, as EA has reportedly paid him $1.5 million on top of an annual $550,000 salary for the move. EA is also providing Moore and his family with $333,000 in relocation expenses, just in case he needs to rent a really big truck or something.

Want to offer congratulations or commiserations to Moore or his replacement, Dan Mattrick? Drop your comments in the forums.