Xbox Game Studios head Craig Duncan steps down after less than two years

Xbox Game Studios head Craig Duncan is stepping down after less than two years in the role and leaving Microsoft this week as the division heads into a major “reset” under new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma.

The details:

• Duncan, who joined Microsoft in 2011 and led Sea of Thieves studio Rare for over a decade, became the head of Xbox Game Studios in late 2024 following Alan Hartman’s retirement. In the position, he oversaw all of the company’s first-party developers, including the likes of Obsidian, The Coalition, Turn 10, Playground Games, Halo Studios, the former studio Rare, and many more.
• In a farewell email to staff (via The Game Business), he wrote that when he stepped into the role, “my purpose was to serve our studios, our teams, and the people making our games,” and that it was “time to move on.” However, no official reasoning beyond that has been shared for his departure.
• Xbox Game Studios chief of staff Louise O’Connor, another long-time Rare veteran, is also departing this week, leaving studios to report directly to Xbox chief content officer Matt Booty until a new Game Studios boss is appointed.
• Their exits come just days after Sharma’s “Next 100 Days: Xbox Reset” memo and reports that Xbox is planning significant layoffs and marketing budget cuts in July to lower operating costs after years of declining revenue, with thousands of jobs expected to be lost.