Gaming Technology Guru to Address International Design Summit

Sarasota, Fla. – (Oct. 14, 2008) – Phillip Holt, GM of EA - Tiburon in Orlando, was announced today as the closing keynote speaker of Ringling College of Art and Design’s Sarasota International Design Summit, Oct. 27-29. Holt will speak at lunch on Wednesday, October 29 and will provide a broad overview of the changing face of the games industry and how the biggest developer in the U.S. adapts to changing trends in its core business.

“EA looks at every nature of online communication and where people are spending their time,” Holt said. “Increasingly, social networks like Facebook are becoming important for EA to understand to deal with gamers and leverage the information. It’s a huge industry with more than $10 billion in annual revenue in North America and $30 billion in annual revenue globally.”

EA Tiburon is the second largest studio among Electronic Arts' World Wide Studio facilities. For over a decade EA Tiburon has served as the primary developer of Madden NFL, one of the highest-revenue franchises in gaming history. In addition to Madden, it essentially serves as the guardian of all EA football franchises, as well of other sports series such as Tiger Woods PGA Tour and NASCAR.

“Madden is a game experience that's true to football and authentic to everything that Madden stands for, but it’s open to a casual or a passive fan of football. They want to buy it because of what we deliver,” Holt said. Prior to his position at EA Tiburon, Holt was vice president of product development at THQ. Holt was in charge of that publisher's growing lineup of studio operations.