Electronic Arts chief exec John Riccitiello is set to resign in the wake of the videogame company’s disappointing earnings and stock figures. EA announced that Larry Probst, current EA chairman and former CEO, would serve as executive chairman while the board searches for a replacement for Riccitiello. In a letter to his employees, Riccitiello took responsibility for the “shortcomings” in EA’s recent results.

“It currently looks like we will come in at the low end of, or slightly below, the financial guidance we issued to the Street, and we have fallen short of the internal operating plan we set one year ago,” he wrote in his letter. “For that, I am 100 percent accountable.”

Electronic Arts has had a tumultuous six years, with shares having fallen nearly two-thirds since 2007. “EA has struggled with pressures that include a shift in game play to the Web and a slide in demand for games played on videogame consoles, a mainstay of its business,” reports the Wall Street Journal.

The company has been facing an industry shift toward games that have become increasingly popular for online, mobile, casual and social arenas — games that are often available to players for free.

“In an interview in late 2011, [Riccitiello] recalled comparing the company to a floating structure that would sink if it didn’t extinguish the flames engulfing it — flames represented by the rise of online games and the waning business of selling games on discs,” notes the article.

Riccitiello led a shift in strategy toward games for PCs, social networks and mobile devices.

“Some signs have been encouraging. EA is one of the top game makers on Apple Inc.’s App Store for the iPhone and iPad, and the amount of money it makes by selling content such as games, extra levels and other items over the Internet has continued to grow,” reports WSJ. “The company has struggled as of late, however. It reduced efforts to make games for Facebook Inc.’s social games platform and saw weaker-than-expected sales for a recent war-simulation shooting game, ‘Medal of Honor: Warfighter.'”

EA also invested heavily in its online game, “Star Wars: The Old Republic,” but it has failed to compete with the likes of Activision’s “World of Warcraft” online subscription game.

Despite problems facing the company in the midst of industry changes, Probst described EA’s future as “rock solid” and noted that Riccitiello’s tenure has been marked by “bold decisions, a big vision for online games, a passion for product quality and an enduring respect for the people who work here.”