Xbox Game Studios Leadership Change Sees Rare Boss Take Over

Xbox Game Studios will soon be led by Rare studio head Craig Duncan as current boss Alan Hartman is retiring in November.

Microsoft president of game content and studios Matt Booty told staff in an email obtained by The Verge that Hartman, the former Forza Motorsport studio boss who was made head of Xbox Game Studios in November 2023, would be leaving the role “at the end of November.”

Duncan will take on the role afterwards, bringing forward his experience from Sea of Thieves studio Rare. “[Duncan] will continue to focus on helping our studios deliver high-quality, differentiated game experiences that can grow into successful franchises and reach more players by investing in new IP,” Booty said in the email. Joe Neate and Jim Horth will replace Duncan as co-leaders of Rare.

Hartman has been at Microsoft for more than three decades, starting as a contractor in the CD-ROM group in 1988. He outlined his years at the company in a LinkedIn post announcing his retirement to those outside of Xbox.

“I was able to take a lifelong love of playing games and make it a career,” Hartman said. “From Age of Empires to Forza Motorsport I’ve been lucky to put my fingerprints across many games through the decades — leading the Forza franchise through all 13 releases and building two fantastic studios along the way.”

He called his role “the best job at Microsoft” and said he’s proud of what the collective studios have accomplished already and of what’s still to come. “Avowed, Clockwork Revolution, Fable, Gears of War E-Day, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, South of Midnight, and many more announced and still to be announced games,” Hartman said.

“I have so much anticipation and confidence in what all of our studios are creating and I am excited by what these teams will accomplish with Craig Duncan as the new head of Xbox Game Studios.”

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.