Microsoft is revamping some of its newest studio boards this week. In addition to the changes at Activision Blizzard, including the final departure of Bobby Kotick next week, the giant has decided to put a new face at the helm of one of its most high-profile recent acquisitions: Zenimax/Bethesda.
Matt Booty announced in an email to studio staff on Wednesday that they have appointed former Nintendo and Sega executive Jill Braff (she was also Sega’s head of marketing) to Zenimax/ The new head of Bethesda.The Verge shared Booty’s statement, which you can read below.
Gill has extensive experience in games and entertainment, having held roles at Nintendo, Sega, Glu Mobile, Home Shopping Network and Warner Bros., as well as building the online and marketing business for The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” he added.
“When ZeniMax/Bethesda joined Xbox, she was the lead on our integration efforts, and through that work she got to know many of their teams and leaders very well.
“Jill will be responsible for leading the ZeniMax/Bethesda game development team, which will continue to operate as a limited integrated entity, and will continue to oversee the Microsoft Casual Games team. Todd Howard, Todd Vaughn, Matt Firor, Paul Jensen and Heather Cooper will report to Jill .
Jamie Leder will continue to serve as CEO of ZeniMax/Bethesda, reporting to me, and will continue to support the ongoing integration efforts. To support development of the ZeniMax/Bethesda game portfolio, Robert Gray (ZeniMax Quality Assurance) and Timothy Beggs (ZeniMax Release Management) will report to Todd Vaughn.
Building on the success of Starfield, all ZeniMax/Bethesda studios are poised to create some of the most exciting and innovative games in the industry. I believe Jill’s leadership and support of the team, along with her ability to build meaningful bridges across Xbox, will further empower everyone at Bethesda to deliver incredible experiences for our players.
