Microsoft has announced the retirement of Alan Hartman, the head of Xbox Game Studios overseeing game studios within the Xbox umbrella (excluding Bethesda and Activision Blizzard), after holding the position for 1 year.
Starting his tenure at Microsoft in 1988 during the CD-ROM era, Alan Hartman has been instrumental in games like Age of Empires and Fable. Additionally, he co-founded Turn 10 Studios under Microsoft in 2001 to develop the Forza Motorsport racing series, before being promoted to head of Xbox Studio just last year.
Craig Duncan, head of Rare Studios, has been appointed to replace Hartman. Duncan, with a 14-year tenure at Rare, has worked on titles from Kinect games to the recent hit Sea of Thieves, boasting over 40 million players.
Taking over from Duncan is Matt Booty, the president of Game Content and Studios at Microsoft, responsible for overseeing all game studios under Microsoft’s umbrella, including Bethesda, Activision, Blizzard, and King.
Meanwhile, Rare will be promoting Joe Neate and Jim Horth as co-heads of the studio, replacing Duncan.
Notable studios under Xbox Game Studios include Halo Studios, Mojang Studios, The Coalition, Turn 10, Playground Games, Rare, Obsidian, Ninja Theory, Compulsion Games, The Initiative, Double Fine, InXile, Undead Labs, and World’s Edge.
Source – Games Industry
TLDR: Alan Hartman retires as head of Xbox Game Studios, Craig Duncan takes over at Rare, while Matt Booty oversees all game studios under Microsoft. Various studio promotions and changes within Xbox Game Studios announced.
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