Electronic Arts Inc. has announced that its chief operating officer John Pleasant will be leaving the company, but right after a Pleasant venture-backed social game developer Playdom said that Pleasant will become its new CEO.

Playdom has recently denied hiring a CEO but now it announced that Mr. Pleasants will be the new executive of the company. Pleasants join EA's team in March last year. Pleasants will be replaced by John Schappert, who has been with EA since 1991.

Schappert will be returning on July 14, taking on several roles pertaining to EA Interactive, Worldwide Publishing, the Online Platform Group, Central Development Services and other divisions of the company.

We are thrilled to welcome John Schappert back to EA, said EA Chief Executive Officer John Riccitiello. He has a great track record as a leader and innovator in our industry. His years of experience with EA and in Microsoft's Xbox business, provide him great insight into recognizing what consumers want.

Schappert left Electronic Arts in 2007 to serve as corporate vice president of Microsoft Inc.'s interactive entertainment business, where he was responsible for Microsoft Game Studios and Xbox Live.

On the other side, Pleasants will be focusing more on social networking initiatives and overall operations of Playdom. Online gaming is the fastest-growing sector of the gaming industry, and social gaming, in particular, is transforming the way people play and experience games,' Pleasants said .