Back in February industry luminary Peter Moore announced that he’d be leaving the video game industry to become the CEO at Liverpool FC. Today is his last day.
One has to admire Peter Moore’s outlandish commitment to the bit.
In a heartfelt farewell to the industry that occupied 18 years of his life, Moore celebrated the time he spent at Sega, Microsoft, EA, and all the friends he’s made along the way.
“From the advent of online gaming (albeit via a 56K modem), to the ‘console wars,’ and now to games as 365 days a year, live experiences, I have been fortunate to have borne witness to the amazing growth of this, our wonderful gaming industry,” Moore said in his farewell.
Despite being the president of Sega of America, vice president of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business, and head of EA’s sports division, Moore humbly maintained that he was often the face of these companies, but not the one responsible for the products we’ve all been so passionate about.
“I was merely the front man for your brilliant achievements,” he said. “The ‘suit’ that sometimes did goofy, cheesy stunts and speeches to draw attention to your phenomenally creative talent.”
One such “cheesy stunt” was the time he got the release date of Halo 2 tattooed on his right bicep. Thank goodness it didn’t get delayed after that!
“If you work in the industry, I am in awe of what you do in bringing games to life in ways we could have only dreamed of a few short years ago,” Moore said of his colleagues, cohorts and competitors.
As he bowed out of the industry, Moore left one piece of constructive criticism for the gaming fanbase at large:
“If you are a gamer, take a deep breath and a moment of reflection occasionally and admire the incredible creativity of the medium you love. And if a game disappoints, provide constructive feedback, not the vitriol that is unfortunately so prevalent nowadays.”
Indeed Moore was always a good sport about criticism, as he deftly defied our delirious, sardonic take on EA’s Gamescom 2016 livestream. He’d read our mocking livetext, as we were bewildered by the lack of announcements, and he took it on the chin, eloquently explaining that it simply wasn’t that kind of event before reaffirming that he still has that Halo 2 tattoo.
Moore signed off with “you’ll never walk alone” after linking to the above video he compiled commemorating his achievements over the past 18 years.
