- Xbox Game Studios CEO Craig Duncan and chief of staff Louise O’Connor are stepping down from their roles
- Their departures come amid reports of mass 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 is reportedly stepping down from his position this week after less than two years in the role.
That’s 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 has been part of Xbox since 2011 and was the head of Microsoft‘s 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 an animator of the Nintendo 64 game Conker’s Bad Fur Day, but left the studio in 2025 after the cancellation of Everwild, before becoming the chief of staff in September last year.
The pair’s departure from Xbox comes after Bloomberg reported that CEO Asha Sharma is considering mass job cuts after she and chief content officer Matt Booty outline a new “Xbox reset.”
The news also follows new reports that Microsoft is shuttering several award-winning studios, including Hellblade developer Ninja Theory, Compulsion Games, the maker of South of Midnight, and Psychonauts studio, Double Fine.
Employees at Ninja Theory, which just announced its new game Senua at the Xbox Games Showcase 2026, were reportedly told about the closure on June 15 and told The Verge that they’re hoping to find a new buyer.
Bloomberg and Kotaku first reported the closures of Compulsion Games and Double Fine, which are in “active negotiations” about spinning off.
Sharma has been CEO for just over 100 days, and in that time has reformed “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 Xbox console exclusive, along with Clockwork Revolution.
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