Microsoft Names Rare Studio Lead Craig Duncan Head Of Xbox Game Studios

After 30 years at Microsoft, one of which was spent as the head of Xbox Studios, Alan Hartman will retire at the end of November.

Replacing him will be Craig Duncan, the head of Microsoft-owned gaming studio Rare, marking a potential shift in Xbox's future plans.

The change of leadership comes less than a year after Hartman took over the lead position at Xbox Game Studios, following Matt Booty's promotion to lead an expanded organization inside Microsoft Gaming.

Having started at Microsoft as a contractor in the CD-ROM group in 1988, over his three-decade-long career at the company, Hartman has worked on games like Age of Empires, was studio head of Digital Anvil, and helped found Turn 10, which delivered 13 Forza Motorsport and Forza Horizon games.

Upon hearing of Hartman's retirement plans, Microsoft's gaming division collaborated with HR to evaluate external and internal candidates to replace him, eventually landing on Duncan

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Prior to becoming the head of Rare in 2011, a game studio acquired by Microsoft in 2002. Duncan worked at Codemasters, Midway Games, and Sumo Digital. In a letter addressed to the company, Booty highlights Duncan's development of Sea of Thieves, a cross-platform franchise that now has over 40 million players.

As head of Xbox, Duncan will be expected to develop new franchises and reach more players by investing in new IP. The company's existing leadership team will remain intact and report to Duncan, Booty says, adding that Joe Neate and Jim Horth will take over as co-leads of Rare.

The new hires come less than a month after Microsoft laid off 650 employees -- a result from the tech giant’s acquisition of gaming powerhouse Activision Blizzard in 2022.

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