Xbox news again? Can’t you walk for five minutes without anything happening? This time it’s the departure of two high-ranking Xbox employees, which has sparked debate as to why they left.
Christopher Dring of The Game Business gives us all the information this time. Dring reports that Xbox Game Studios boss Craig Duncan has stepped down after just over 18 months in the position, and is leaving the company entirely. Until a replacement is found, most Xbox studios will answer to Chief Content Officer Matt Booty.
Duncan has been with Xbox since 2011, including 14 years running Rare. And before his Xbox career, the man spent time at the likes of Codemasters and Midway. He took over as Head of Xbox Game Studios in October 2024.
Xbox Game Studios chief of staff Louise O’Connor is apparently stepping down. He joined Rare back in 1999 as an animator. He left Rare shortly before Everwild was canceled in 2025, taking over as chief of staff in September of that year. That means he can’t even settle into his role before he leaves.
In an email sent to Xbox employees, Duncan said this about himself and O’Connor: “Together, we’re committed to delivering high-quality games, strengthening the fabric of culture across our studios, and helping shape the future of the business. I’m proud to say we’ve delivered many flawless launches that have led to business success for the company.”
Now, we come to the speculative part of the news. Why now? Duncan still has a little time on the job, after all. And O’Connor’s departure after only a few months in the job meant that his position was closely related to Duncan.
There could be several possible reasons. What is most obvious is that major leadership shake-ups are more common in the months following a new CEO taking over. Asha Sharma is looking to “reset” the brand and has already brought in a few of her former colleagues to help her with that goal, so both Duncan and O’Connor could be given their marching orders, which at that level of business usually means being given a chance to back off rather than being fired.
It may be the case that Sharma’s vision for Xbox doesn’t match Duncan and O’Connor’s. Both have stepped into roles under the reign of Phil Spencer who steered Xbox into a multiplatform publishing giant, while Sharma seems focused on rebuilding Xbox as a powerful platform and hardware product, even bringing back exclusive games.
However, there are also reports of a major round of layoffs coming from Xbox, so there is a possibility that both Duncan and O’Connor saw the level and decided to bail because they didn’t want anything to do with it, or they realized that they would be part of the cuts and decided to leave before that happened.
Learning about other reactions has been interesting. Many people are frustrated that Xbox doesn’t seem to go a month without another major restructuring, leadership change or strategic pivot. But the sad truth is that standing still is not an option either. Whether you agree with Asha Sharma’s plans or not, Xbox clearly believes that the status quo wasn’t working. The challenge now is to make the players believe that all this commotion is leading somewhere.
