Rare Boss To Become New Head Of Xbox Game Studios

The team's current leader is retiring

by Ben Kerry 3:50pm

Rare Boss To Become New Head Of Xbox Game Studios

Rare boss Craig Duncan is set to become the new leader over at Xbox Game Studios, with current XGS head Alan Hartman set to retire, per GamesIndustry.biz.

Hartman only took on the role in 2023 after leading Forza developer Turn 10 for a number of years. Duncan will go down a similar route, after heading up the Sea Of Thieves studio for over 10 years in Twycross, England.

Here's how Xbox's Matt Booty described Duncan's new role:

"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."

This is a big job over at Team Green - it's a role that boss Phil Spencer once took on before graduating to Head of Xbox and eventually, CEO of Microsoft Gaming. We all want to see Xbox Game Studios thrive, and we wish Duncan and his team the best of luck leading them forward.

What do we think to this news, PXers? Tell us your thoughts down below.

[source gamesindustry.biz]

Ben is a News Writer at Pure Xbox, and is a fan of action, racing and straight-up shootin' in any Xbox game he can get his hands on. When he's not clutching an Xbox controller like his life depends on it, Ben spends his time listening to music that's far too old for him, watching football on the telly and probably eating somewhere.

1
Titntin
4:17pm

I don't know much about this guy. Except that Rare's output has been very rare indeed.
Surely we need someone who knows how to get quality content out the door on a regular basis?
I wish him all the luck, but I'm not convinced this will give the brand a new momentum. Hopefully I'm wrong and he will shake what needs to be shaken....

I think this is a mistake Rare is a nightmare and hasn't developed a game in years.

3
IOI
4:36pm

I didn’t even know there was a head of Xbox Game Studios aside from Matt Booty, and I don’t really know how to feel about this move since Xbox Game Studios’ output has been very lackluster only delivering Hellblade 2 this year and Forza last year, but Rare’s has been even worse with them only having Sea of Thieves back in 2018 and Everwild in development hell for half a decade…

4
richyroo
4:37pm

@Titntin

Its a big unfair to state that Rare's output has been Rare.

They continue to support their highly successful live service game Sea of Thieves. There has been plentiful content releases for this. I assume SOT keeps them very busy with not much time to spend elsewhere.

5
ironcrow86
4:37pm

So is Spencer still head honcho or is Duncan?? - I think we can all agree Phil's decisions as of late haven't exactly been for the players....I know that's Playstations slogan, but even so 😕

6
Titntin
4:41pm

@richyroo 280 staff and a 60 acre site and they develop a few DLC's?
I was a dev for two decades - there is no way you can say 'it's all on Sea of Thieves'... It's absolutely fair to say they have produced very little and I'm well aware of what they do on SoT.

7
FraserG
4:42pm

@ironcrow86 Spencer is head honcho, Duncan is leading the first-party teams (but still himself reporting to Matt Booty, who these days is classed as "president of game content and studios).

8
Medic_alert
4:56pm

I have to echo some of the sentiment already stated.

Xbox have studios struggling to put out games on time and at high quality and you look to Rare for the answers??

Rare who launched Sea thieves 6 years ago to middling reviews because of its bare bones state. Since then have released nothing outside dlc and 2 trailers for a game that appears lost to time and never really got past concept stage in Everwild.

I have no idea how this stuff happens without someone noticing internally.

9
ParsnipHero
4:59pm

Xbox's team titles are so confusing I needed this article to understand who he was replacing.

@ParsnipHero just following on from their console naming convention

He presents well and Rare certainly has become a very good studio overall. But, him being the studio head and then having Everwild in dev hell under his watch and now having him being head of Xbox game studios worries me a litttle pit. Would have much rather seen Obsidian or Playground leadership become the head of Xbox game studios.