GamesIndustry stories Xbox Sport Studios may have a management shakeup with the departure of studio head Alan Hartman. Hartman, who beforehand led Forza developer Flip 10, took on the position final 12 months, and can retire from the corporate on the finish of November.
Craig Duncan, present chief of Uncommon Ltd, will take over for Hartman. Since being appointed studio head in 2011, Duncan led Uncommon throughout its run of Kinect video games to Killer Intuition and extra lately Sea of Thieves.
Below his new position, Duncan will oversee Xbox’s first-party groups, together with The Coalition, Ninja Principle, Halo Studios, and report back to Sport Studios and Content material president Matt Booty.
In a employees electronic mail, Booty stated Duncan would “proceed to concentrate on serving to our studios ship high-quality, differentiated recreation experiences that may develop into profitable franchises and attain extra gamers by investing in new IP.”
Booty additional recommended Hartman for his accessibility work and management on the racing franchise, noting he “set a benchmark for the business, constructing Forza into one of many high racing franchises on this planet, and often pushing the capabilities of our {hardware}.”
At Xbox, leaders depart
With Duncan transitioning over to Xbox, his position at Uncommon can be changed by Joe Neate and Jim Horth. Each have been with the studio for not less than a decade (or in Horth’s case, two): Neate is at present the chief producer for Sea of Thieves, and Horth is presently the studio director.
Xbox management has had some noticeable regime adjustments because it acquired Activision Blizzard final 12 months. Within the instant aftermath, a number of ZeniMax leaders have been correctly built-in into Xbox hierarchy, and longtime Activision CEO Bobby Kotick departed on the finish of the 12 months.
This previous April, longtime Xbox govt Kareem Choudry departed after a protracted, 26-year tenure. Choudry was a key determine in Venture xCloud, together with a concentrate on backward compatibility that outlined that grew to become a key a part of the Xbox model.
