Moore will be replaced by Don Mattrick, a former top EA executive who has served as an advisor to Microsoft on video games for the past six months. Moore will stay at Microsoft until 1 September though Mattrick will start his new job on 30 July.

The announcement comes soon after Microsoft announced that it would fix an "unacceptable" number of broken Xbox 360 game consoles that would cost the software major an estimated $1.15 billion.

Meanwhile, Microsoft has said that there is nothing to be read into the timing of Moore‘s departure which comes close on the heels of E3, the video game industry‘s annual expo. Moore was supposed to play host for Microsoft‘s press briefing.

"It is just how things fall. A lot of this timing was driven by Electronic Arts," said Microsoft entertaninment and devices division president Robbie Bach. "Peter is a sports nut, so it is a good job for Peter."

Moore will receive a one-time bonus of $1.5 million from EA to offset future compensation he was due at Microsoft. He joined Microsoft in 2003 to oversee their gaming consoles. After joining Microsoft from Sega Toys Ltd., Moore became the marketing face of the company‘s Xbox push and made it more competitive towards rival Sony Corp.‘s PlayStation console.

Previously he was the President and COO of SEGA of America and helped launch Dreamcast in 1999. He also has an extensive sports background, as both a senior vice president of marketing at Reebok International Ltd. and as the President of Patrick USA, the United States subsidiary of a French sportswear company.