Xbox Game Studios Leadership Change – Rare’s Craig Duncan Joins Role
There’s a shakeup at the head of Xbox Game Studios, Microsoft’s portfolio of first-party developers. Alan Hartman, who held the role last year after Matt Booty became president of Game Content and Studios, which oversees Xbox, Bethesda and Activision Blizzard, is retiring. Previously, Hartman served as Studio Manager at Turn 10 for nearly 20 years, responsible for the acclaimed Forza and Forza Horizon franchises.
To announce this news, Matt Booty sent the following email to employees (shared publicly on GamesIndustry):
Alan’s career has been marked by innovation, dedication and an unwavering passion for the game. Alan started out as a contractor in Microsoft’s early CD-ROM group in 1988, working on projects ranging from Age of Empires to Brute Force, and after serving as studio head at Digital Anvil, he founded Turn 10. Over the years, Alan, Turn 10, and Playground Games have released 13 Forza Motorsport and Forza Horizon games, establishing Forza as one of the world’s greatest racing franchises and regularly expanding the hardware’s capabilities. His work to improve accessibility in gaming has set industry benchmarks, and under his leadership, Xbox Game Studios has released several acclaimed titles this year, setting the stage for anticipated releases like Avowed, South of Midnight, Fable, and more.
The new head of Xbox Game Studios is Craig Duncan, who has been Studio Manager at Rare since March 2011. Booty said:
In his new role, Craig will continue to focus on helping our studio grow successful franchises and invest in new IP to deliver high-quality, differentiated gaming experiences that can reach more players.
In turn, Craig Duncan will be replaced by Joe Neate and Jim Horth, who created Sea of Thieves at Rare. Earlier today, we also reported unrelated rumors that the Everwild team was finally making good progress, having found a solid gameplay loop after several attempts.
