Donny Moore, the man behind all the numeric scores in the most popular american football franchise has announced he will be leaving games after 16 years working for EA Sports.
“After much thought & consideration, I have chosen to step away from [EA Sports] & announce my retirement as the Madden Ratings Czar as I have opted to pursue other interests,” announced Moore via Twitter; the rest of the three-tweet announcement can be read below.
Polygon reached out to EA Tiburon, and a rep has indeed confirmed that next month’s Madden 16 will be the final title Moore will have worked on. He has already sat down and assessed all of the athletes’ skillsets and has then turned these into the facts and figures necessary for development.
After much thought & consideration, I have chosen to step away from @EASPORTS & announce my retirement as the Madden Ratings Czar
— Donny Moore (@Donny_Moore) July 2, 2015
(contd.) as I have opted to pursue other interests. I am especially grateful of the opportunity to rate players for some of the –>
— Donny Moore (@Donny_Moore) July 2, 2015
(contd.) greatest fans in video games today. After 16 years, it is finally time to hang up the czar’s mouse pad! #Czartirement
— Donny Moore (@Donny_Moore) July 2, 2015
Moore has since been wished good luck by both fellow developers and fans. It’s no surprise really – when you work up through a company to achieve a business card that list you as the “ratings czar” having assessed nearly 2600 players across the years. He’s certainly worked hard, too – If Moore had to assess each of those in as many as 40 categories (as in last year’s Madden 2015), that is a whole lot of deliberating and converting.
Moore has certainly left a mark on the NFL playing field. Rating players, he naturally encountered criticism by furious fans or (in some cases) NFL players themselves for his figures and ratings used in the franchise. Hell, Tiburon will simply be passing on all the systems that Moore has invented over the years to the team now responsible for his legacy.
Bottom line, for both Madden and NFL players alike, Donny Moore is certainly a figure to be missed. However, you can at least pick up next month’s Madden 16 on PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One as his NFL stat swan song.