The Microsoft acquisition of Activision Blizzard finally received the green light from the Federal Trade Commission several weeks ago, and it means that there will be changes at the executive level for the studios under its umbrella, including ZeniMax and Bethesda.
Based on a report by Eurogamer, there will be two sub-units under Microsoft. One is the Xbox division, under which will be a group majority of the executives in the Activision Blizzard unit. Mike Ybarra and the other leaders will be directly under the organizational umbrella of the newly promoted Matt Booty.
On the other hand, the ZeniMax/Bethesda studios will be organized separately under the leadership of Jill Braff. This means she’ll be in charge of putting together the operations of executives like Todd Howard and Matt Firor, among others.
Booty said in an internal memo that Baff was instrumental in integrating the ZeniMax studios into Xbox when Microsoft acquired the holding company and has built a solid knowledge of the teams and leadership within those companies.
As part of this transition, long-time Activision Blizzard chief executive officer Bobby Kotick is leaving the company he led for roughly 32 years. Kotick’s next moves are unknown as he did not allude to them in his final email to his former employees, published in the company’s blog.
Activision Blizzard’s chief communications officer, Lulu Meservey, will also leave the company as part of the restructuring under Microsoft’s leadership.
Booty said this new leadership structure excites him about what’s in store for Xbox’s customers for the next 18 months.
“Together, we can create amazing, memorable experiences for our players, built in a culture that empowers everyone to be their most authentic selves and do their best work,” he said in his memo.
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