Rare boss promoted to head of Xbox Game Studios

Rare boss Craig Duncan has been promoted to head of Xbox Game Studios.

Duncan, who’s led Rare for nearly 14 years, will replace Alan Hartman, who was appointed Xbox’s studios boss just last year, after previously leading Forza studio Turn 10.

According to GI.biz, Hartman will retire from Microsoft at the end of November, and will be replaced by Rare’s Duncan.

Duncan joined Rare during the Kinect era, and oversaw the launch of live service hit Sea of Thieves. Before that, he held roles at Sumo Digital, Midway, and Codemasters.

His new role will see him oversee Xbox teams including Halo Studios, The Coalition, Turn 10, Playground Games, Rare, Obsidian, Ninja Theory, Compulsion Games, The Initiative, Double Fine, InXile, Undead Labs, World’s Edge and more.

Following Duncan’s departure, Rare will be led by Joe Neate and Jim Hoth. Neate joined Rare in 2013, after similar stints at Midway and Sumo, and has led the Sea of Thieves project as executive producer. Horth is a 20-year Rare veteran and was most recently studio director.

“Alan’s career has been marked by innovation, dedication, and an unwavering passion for gaming,” Xbox’s president of game content and studios, Matt Booty, wrote to staff in an email.

“Starting as a contractor at Microsoft in the fledgling CD-ROM group in 1988, Alan has worked on a variety of projects in his time here, from Age of Empires, to Brute Force as the studio head of Digital Anvil, to the founding of Turn 10.

“Over the years, Alan, Turn 10 and Playground Games delivered 13 Forza Motorsport and Forza Horizon games, building Forza into one of the top racing franchises in the world and regularly pushing the capabilities of our hardware.

“His work to advance accessibility in gaming has set a benchmark for the industry and under his leadership, Xbox Game Studios has shipped multiple critically acclaimed titles this year and set the stage for highly anticipated games like Avowed, South of Midnight, Fable, and more.”

Booty added: “In his new role, Craig 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.”