- Xbox Game Studios CEO Craig Duncan and Chief of Staff Louise O’Connor Leaving Their Positions
- Their departures come amid reports of massive job cuts at Xbox.
- The news also follows reports of several studio closures, including Ninja Theory, Compulsion Games, and Double Fine.
Xbox Game Studios CEO Craig Duncan will reportedly step down from his role this week after less than two years in the role.
This is according to The Game Business, which claims that Duncan’s chief of staff, Louise O’Connor, is also leaving the company, less than a year after joining.
Duncan accepted the role in 2024 after the previous boss, Alan Hartman, retired, but he has been with Xbox since 2011 and was the boss of Microsoft. sea of thieves studio, Rare, for 14 years.
His role as CEO meant he oversaw many Xbox-owned studios, such as Rare, as well as Halo Studios, The Coalition, Flight Sim, Turn 10, Playground Games, Obsidian, Ninja Theory, Compulsion Games, The Initiative, Double Fine, InXile, Undead Labs, and more.
Meanwhile, O’Connor joined Rare in 1999 as a Nintendo 64 game animator. Conker’s Bad Skin Daybut left the studio in 2025 after the cancellation of Always wildbefore becoming chief of staff in September last year.
The pair’s departure from Xbox comes after Bloomberg reported that CEO Asha Sharma is considering massive job cuts after she and chief content officer Matt Booty described a new “Xbox reboot.”
The news also follows new reports that Microsoft is closing several award-winning studios, including hell blade developer Ninja Theory, Compulsion Games, the creator of South of midnightand Psychonauts study, Double Fine.
Employees of Ninja Theory, which has just announced its new game Senúa At Xbox Games Showcase 2026, they were reportedly told about the closure on June 15 and told The Verge that they hope to find a new buyer.
Bloomberg and Kotaku first reported the closure of Compulsion Games and Double Fine, which are in “active negotiations” about the spinoff.
Sharma has been CEO for just over 100 days, and in that time she reshaped “Microsoft Gaming” back into “Xbox” and reiterated her plan to “return to Xbox” by taking the brand back to its roots.
At the Xbox Games Showcase, Sharma announced that Gears of War: E-Day will be an exclusive Xbox console, along with Mechanical Revolution.
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