Rare Studio Boss Becomes Head Of Xbox Games Studios in November

Alan Hartman, Craig Duncan, games, gaming, head of Xbox studios, Matt Booty, microsoft, News, Rare, video-games, xbox, xbox studios

After more than 14 years at one of gaming’s most historic and celebrated studios, Craig Duncan has been picked to replace Alan Hartman as Head of Xbox Games Studios next month.

Starting his career working at Midway studio, where Duncan helped bring the Vin Diesel fronted Wheelman to market, he also spent time at Codemasters and Sumo Digital before joining Rare in 2010. He headed the team during it’s tumultuous time as a Kinect focused studio, and helped establish Rare’s new identity with the success of their swashbuckling GaaS Sea of Thieves, which has had more than 40 million players across Xbox, PlayStation and PC since its launch in 2018.

Duncan inherits the role from Alan Hartman who plans to retire from the gaming industry at the end of 2024 after over 30 years at Microsoft. Hartman is best known for founding and leading the Turn 10 studio and establishing the Forza franchise as a leader in the racing sim genre. As well as involvement with other series like Age of Empires and Fable during a 36-year career, Hartman took the Head of Xbox Studios role last year.

Left: Craig Duncan, Right: Alan Hartman

Alan Hartman put up a post on LinkedIn saying:

“I am proud of what we have accomplished together and I am excited by what we have in the pipe! Avowed, Clockwork Revolution, Fable, Gears of War E-Day, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, South of Midnight, and many more announced and still to be announced games. I have so much anticipation and confidence in what all of our studios are creating and I am excited by what these teams will accomplish with Craig Duncan as the new Head of Xbox Game Studios.”

Craig Duncan hands the reins to Rare over to Joe Neate and Jim Horth, executive producer on Sea of Thieves and studio director respectively. Now Duncan will report to president of Game Content and Studios Matt Booty, and be in charge of over a dozen studios including the likes of Rare (obviously), Halo Studios, The Coalition, The Initiative, Turn 10, Ninja Theory, Playground Games, Obsidian, Compulsion Games, Double Fine, InXile, Undead Labs, World’s Edge and more.

In an email sent to staff Matt Booty described what was expected of Duncan as head of Xbox Studios: “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.”