Over two years after acquiring ZeniMax and Bethesda, Microsoft has now incorporated some of the developer’s management into its own leadership team. Internal emails obtained by The Verge reveal a reorganization that further integrates the two companies and “sustains the momentum” of Microsoft’s recent Activision Blizzard acquisition.
“I’m excited to partner with this team of leaders to advance our mission for the next era of Xbox in service of players and creators,” wrote Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer. “I am confident that they will steer our organization to success in the months and years to come.”
As a result of the reorganization, corporate VP Sarah Bond has been promoted to president for the overall games division and its platform/hardware work. Meanwhile, Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty is now president of the game content and studios division, and will oversee developers under the Bethesda/ZeniMax umbrella.
Current ZeniMax president Jamie Leder will maintain his position, though he and other ZeniMax leaders will now report to Microsoft leaders with whom their work most closely aligns (in Leder’s case, this would be Booty). Like Leder, Bobby Kotick will continue as Activision Blizzard’s CEO, at least until the end of 2023.
Though Kotick appears to be the only Activision Blizzard higher-up included, Spencer highlighted Dave McCarthy as Microsoft Gaming’s COO. McCarthy, a 14-year Microsoft veteran, will be focusing on “the effective integration of Activision Blizzard,” which Spencer’s email noted as “vital” to Xbox’s future.
You can read Spencer’s full email here. In it, he noted that more information on the regime change will revealed at a town hall meeting held next Monday, October 30 at 1:00 PM PT.