Xbox Games Studios loses two top execs, days after Microsoft gaming CEO calls for company "reset"

Rare veterans Craig Duncan and Louise O'Connor are leaving

Xbox Games Studios boss Craig Duncan and chief of staff Louise O'Connor have left Microsoft, according to reports, with all the studios under Duncan's watch now operating under Xbox chief content officer Matt Booty until a replacement is found.

Duncan had been in the top job for all of 20 months, while O'Connor had served out less than a year. It follows claims that Microsoft are about to launch into another round of mass layoffs, with new CEO Asha Sharma speaking ominously of a need to "reset the business".

All that's from a report in The Games Business, passed along by the monocle-polishing cognoscente of GamesIndustry.biz. TGB have also gotten hold of a staff memo in which Duncan writes: “When I stepped into the role of leading XGS 20 months ago, my purpose was to serve our studios, our teams, and the people making our games. Together, we set out to deliver high-quality games, strengthen the cultural fabric across our studios, and help shape the future of the business."

He also praises O’Connor as "a thoughtful, creative, and trusted partner who has consistently championed the craft and supported our studios with clarity and care."

Duncan and O'Connor are both veterans of Rare Ltd. Duncan ran the studio for 14 years from 2011 – a period that gave us a Killer Instinct reboot, some enthusiastic experiments with Xbox's misfiring Kinect appendage, and the launch of navel gadabout sim Sea of Thieves. O'Connor had an even longer tenure, starting at Rare in 1999 as an animator on sweary N64 game Conker’s Bad Fur Day. She was also a producer on Everwild, Rare's cancelled wilderness bonding adventure.

The wording of Duncan's departure may be all smiles, but the abruptness of his and O'Connor's departure obviously suggests that they were either pushed out, or left because they dislike how things are going aboard the good ship MS. We'll send Xbox a request for comment.