Xbox Game Studios boss Alan Hartman will leave the company at the end of November and Raro boss Craig Duncan will take over.
Hartman is best known for launching at Flip 10 in 2005, the studio behind the Forza franchise. He moved up to the top Xbox game studios last year. He has also worked on Microsoft franchises such as Life of Empires and Delusion during a 36-year video game career.
In their playground is Uncommon studio head Craig Duncan. Duncan has led Uncommon for the better part of 14 years, overseeing the studio’s Kinect titles and the creation of its Sea of Thieves live support project, which has had more than 40 million players since its launch in 2018.
In September, he attended the GamesIndustry.biz Absolute Best Parks To Painting Awards 2024, where Uncommon won three awards.
Prior to Uncommon, Duncan held more than one construction management role at companies such as Sumo Virtual, Halfway, and Codemasters. He is also vice president of the SpecialEffect fund.
His unused role includes Xbox teams including Halo Studios, The Coalition, Flip 10, Place Games, Uncommon, Obsidian, Ninja Concept, Compulsion Games, The Initiative, Double Advantage, InXile, Undead Labs, Global’s Edge, and more. Duncan will communicate with President of Game Studies and Content, Matt Booty.
Joe Neate and Jim Horth replace Duncan in Uncommon. Neate joined Uncommon in 2013 and led Sea of Thieves’ mission as a government manufacturer. Prior to Uncommon, he held management positions at Sumo Virtual and Halfway. Meanwhile, Horth has been part of the Uncommon team for over twenty years and has held more than one role, most recently as studio head.
“Alan’s career has been marked by innovation, dedication, and an unwavering passion for gaming,” Booty wrote to staff in an email.
“Alan, who started as a contractor at Microsoft in the fledgling CD-ROM group in 1988, has worked on a variety of projects during his time here, from Age of Empires to Brute Force as studio director for Digital Anvil and the founding of Turn 10. Over the years, Alan, Turn 10 and Playground Games delivered 13 Forza Motorsport and Forza Horizon games, making Forza one of the biggest racing franchises in the world and regularly pushing the capabilities of our hardware. The games have set a benchmark for the industry and under his leadership, Xbox Game Studios has released multiple critically acclaimed titles this year and set the stage for highly anticipated games like Avowed, South of Midnight, Fable and more.” .
Hartman said in a LinkedIn post: “Being a studio director in games is one of the most rewarding and challenging roles in entertainment. I think it’s the most effective process at Microsoft. I always knew we had great talent at XGS, but not I don’t realize how much I would love to spend my life with our studio leaders and their teams. It’s been an honor to form XGS, and I’m truly sorry: it’s a joy to spend my life with all of our studios.
“I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished together and excited for what we have on the way! Avowed, Clockwork Revolution, Fable, Gears of War E-Day, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, South of Midnight and many more announced and “Games yet to come announce. “I have a lot of anticipation and confidence in what all of our studios are creating and I’m excited for what these teams will accomplish with Craig Duncan as the new head of Xbox Game Studios.”
Booty added: “In his new role, Craig will continue to focus on helping our studios deliver high-quality, differentiated gaming experiences that can become successful franchises and reach more players by investing in new IP.”
