EA creative director quits two years since joining

A senior creative director at Electronic Arts has become the sixth high-profile exec to leave the company in the space of five months.

Mark Turmell left the company just 18 months after joining, adding to a string of departures across the publisher’s management.

According to a Kotaku report, Turmell has departed to join social games titan Zynga.

Turmell, the co-creator of the NBA Jam franchise, joined EA in October 2009 amid speculation that the game series was set to return.

Turmell’s walkout continues a string of high-profile departures at the publisher.

The link between them, if any, has not been explained.

In June, Phil Frazier, the longstanding executive producer for the Madden series, parted ways with Electronic Arts.

In March, EA’s second-in-command John Schappert departed from the company to join Zynga.

In April an unnamed EA Tiburon boss quit the company (very likely to be Ian Cummings, the Madden NFL creative director).

EA Easy Studio boss Ben Cousins, meanwhile, departed late in March – one day after Visceral Games boss Scot Amos resigned.

"We appreciate Mark Turmell’s contribution to Tiburon and EA Sports and wish him well in future endeavours," a spokesperson said.