The shape of Microsoft’s gaming efforts is obviously going to change in significant ways in the coming months and years courtesy of its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, and part of that is already being put in motion, starting with the company having reorganized its Xbox leadership team, as reported by The Verge.
As a result of said reorganization, some high-ranking executives under the Xbox umbrella are being promoted to new positions. Sarah Bond, previously the vice president of Xbox, is now the division’s president, while Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty will now serve as the president of game content and studios.
In an internal memo sent to Microsoft employees, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer has said that Bond will “manage the platform of today, and build the platform of tomorrow”, as she oversees the Xbox platform and its hardware and software efforts going forward.
Meanwhile, Booty’s expanded role will see him overseeing not only Xbox Game Studios, but also all of ZeniMax, which, as per Spencer, will “enable Xbox Game Studios and ZeniMax’s development studios to collaborate effectively together”. Spencer has also explained, however, that as before, ZeniMax “will continue to operate as a limited integration entity”, with Jamie Leder still serving as President.
It remains to be seen how Activision Blizzard and all the studios under it will be integrated into the Xbox infrastructure going forward, especially with ZeniMax’s full integration having come over two years after it was acquired. Previously, it was confirmed that Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick would be leaving his post at the company after the end of the year.