The current head of Xbox Game Studios, Alan Hartman, is to retire at the end of November, with Rare studio boss Craig Duncan taking over (thanks, GI.biz). Hartman’s been at Xbox for a long time, with a list of credits across everything from Age of Empires to Forza, though has only been in the head honcho role for a year.
“Alan’s career has been marked by innovation, dedication, and an unwavering passion for gaming,” says Microsoft’s Matt Booty. “Starting as a contractor at Microsoft in the fledgling CD-ROM group in 1988, Alan has worked on a variety of projects in his time here, from Age of Empires, to Brute Force as the studio head of Digital Anvil, to the founding of Turn 10 […] His work to advance accessibility in gaming has set a benchmark for the industry and under his leadership, Xbox Game Studios has shipped multiple critically acclaimed titles this year and set the stage for highly anticipated games like Avowed, South of Midnight, Fable, and more.”
As for his replacement, Craig Duncan’s been with Rare 14 years, in which time the studio did plenty of work for Microsoft’s ill-fated Kinect peripheral, but most notably guided the launch and subsequent support for Sea of Thieves. This game is internally regarded as one of the great Game Pass drivers for Microsoft, regularly at the top of the most-played games within that ecosystem, and has continued to evolve with and delight its sizeable player base.
So no doubt the bean-counters in Redmond are hoping Duncan can shake some of that piratical stardust over other parts of their lineup. Duncan will soon be in charge of a dizzying lineup of studios, stuffed with talent, incredibly well-resourced, and yet… and yet, I don’t think it’s unfair to say Microsoft Game Studios has not been firing on all cylinders over recent years. It feels like for every hit there’s a few misfires, and only a few weeks ago its flagship Halo studio, 343 Industries, announced a rebrand and a change of direction.
Getting something great out of the newly minted Halo Studios will be one of Duncan’s biggest jobs, but there’s also Playground Games (please let the Fable reboot be good), The Initiative (the great-looking Perfect Dark), Turn 10 (Forza), Obsidian (Avowed), Ninja Theory (Hellblade), and others including The Coalition, Compulsion Games, Double Fine, inXile, and many many more.
Joe Neate and Jim Horth will be stepping up to share Duncan’s old role at Rare. Neate’s an executive producer on Sea of Thieves who’s been at Rare for over a decade, while Horth has been there for over two decades and held many roles, most recently being studio director.
“In his new role, Craig will continue to focus on helping our studios deliver high-quality, differentiated game experiences that can grow into successful franchises and reach more players by investing in new IP,” says Booty.