Microsoft has revealed that they are reorganizing its Xbox gaming and marketing leadership teams following the official acquisition of Activision Blizzard. In an internal memo to Xbox employees, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer said “Microsoft Gaming is on a multi-year journey to reach players where they are, on the devices they choose to play, and our strategy is working. We have thirteen $1B+ franchises in our portfolio and we just set new records for engagement in Game Pass. As our business continues to grow, it’s important that we structure ourselves to sustain that momentum with effective clarity and accountability across Gaming. In that spirit, we are making the following organizational changes effective today:” Matt Booty is being promoted to President of Game Content and Studios while Sara Bond is promoted to Xbox President.
Matt Booty’s new position is a reflection of Xbox’s new journey. As Spencer puts it, “Great games are fundamental to everything we do. We believe that an expanded gaming content organization—one that enables Xbox Game Studios and ZeniMax’s development studios to collaborate effectively together—will empower those world-class studios to do their best work in growing our portfolio of games players love. Matt Booty will lead this expanded organization as President, Game Content and Studios.”
ZeniMax will still operate independently led by Jamie Leder, the President and CEO but will report to Booty. Spencer also noted that a number of ZeniMax leaders will report to Microsoft leaders with whom their work most closely aligns to deepen the partnership and accelerate mutual learning.
“With our innovative devices, products, services, and our global community, Xbox is the primary way we connect games and their creators with players around the world,” Spencer said. “These experiences are as foundational as the games themselves, whether they are our first-party games or third-party games. To manage the platform of today, and build the platform of tomorrow, we are bringing together the teams that will make this possible. Sarah Bond will lead this team as President of Xbox — bringing together Devices, Player & Creator Experiences, Platform Engineering, Strategy, Business Planning, Data & Analytics and Business Development.”
In addition to the promotions, it has been revealed that Chief Marketing Officer Chris Capossela is stepping down after 32 years at Microsoft. Taking Capossela’s place is Takeshi Numoto. Takeshi has been at the heart of our Cloud transformation,” says Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella in an internal memo to employees. “I’m thrilled for him to step into the CMO role for Microsoft and drive our vision forward.”
You can read the full list of changes in Spencer’s internal memo.