Microsoft has decided to promote Minecraft boss Matt Booty and put him in charge of Xbox game efforts. Booty will now oversee Microsoft Studios and will be second only to Microsoft’s games boss Phil Spencer. Spencer himself was promoted not too long ago from the position of Xbox head to Executive Vice President, Gaming and he is now accountable for leading Microsoft’s gaming business across all devices and services.
Matt Booty joined Microsoft back in 2010 and was first responsible for games for Windows-powered smartphones. He then worked on developing the Xbox Live Arcade and was later put in charge of Minecraft developer Mojang after the company was acquired by Microsoft in 2014 for $2.5 billion.
Booty was previously the head of the Minecraft group and he has now taken up the position that was vacated by Spencer. He will report to Spencer who reports directly to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.
Spencer explained to GamesBest that he will now be in charge of developing the grand strategy for games while Booty will be responsible for executing that strategy in games publishing.
Booty is now responsible for all first and third-party development of Xbox games. He will also manage the company’s relationships with partners like 343 Industries, Turn 10 Studios, Mojang, Rare, and Global Publishing.