Man, what is with all these high profile departures lately? After Sony went through downsizing at Sony Santa Monica, the departure of a head writer at Naughty Dog, and perhaps most devastatingly, that of Jack Tretton, Microsoft seems to be going through one of its own- Marc Whitten, the chief product officer of Xbox, is leaving Microsoft, although the departure is apparently amicable.
“Marc played a pivotal role in building the Xbox business over the last 14 years and has been a great partner for me personally,” said Yusuf Mehdi, Corporate Vice President of Strategy and Marketing, “Marc has built a very strong and passionate team that has delivered innovative technology for game and entertainment fans. Our fans will continue to inspire us to do great work on their behalf.”
“I have had the extreme pleasure over the last 14 years to work on the greatest product with the greatest team and for the greatest community,” said Whitten. “Xbox is so special because of the amazing team I’ve had the opportunity to work with and because our fans are the most incredible fans on the planet. It has been the highlight of my career to work on a product so loved. It’s incredibly tough to leave but I am confident the best days are ahead for Xbox fans, in the capable hands of a very talented team.”
Whitten went on to state that he has ‘the utmost confidence in this amazing team and our products,’ and he invited players to add him on Xbox Live (Gamertag: Notwen).
One can only hope that this doesn’t rock the ship, especially since things have started to look up for Xbox One a little since the launch of TitanFall.
