What you need to know
- Alan Hartman has been the studio head of Forza Motorsport developer Turn 10 Studios since 2005.
- Hartman has been promoted to head of Xbox Game Studios, overseeing Turn 10 and its sister studios such as 343 Industries, Obsidian Entertainment, and more.
- The former head of Xbox Game Studios, Matt Booty, was recently promoted to president of Game Content and Studios, overseeing Xbox Game Studios and Bethesda Softworks / ZeniMax Media.
There's a new head honcho over at Xbox Game Studios.
The collection of 15 different development studios is now being led by Alan Hartman, the former vice president of the Forza and Fable franchises, who shared the news via LinkedIn.
"Thrilled to be representing such an elite set of game creators in my new role leading Xbox Game Studios!" Harman said when announcing his promotion.
Hartman served as studio head of Forza Motorsport developer since 2005, overseeing the regular game releases and the team's stewardship of the ForzaTech engine, which is shared with Forza Horizon developer Playground Games. The team at Playground Games is also using ForzaTech to power the upcoming Fable reboot.
What will Alan Hartman be in charge of?
Being head of Xbox Game Studios, Hartman is now overseeing not just Turn 10 Studios, but the other 14 studios underneath the Xbox Game Studios publishing label. This includes 343 Industries, Compulsion Games, Ninja Theory, Obsidian Entertainment, and others.
What about Matt Booty?
Matt Booty was the head of Xbox Game Studios for several years, overseeing the publisher during Microsoft's aggressive expansion phase. Booty was recently promoted to president of Game Content and Studios, meaning he's in charge of both Xbox Game Studios and Bethesda Softworks, the second Xbox first-party publisher that's under ZeniMax Media.
Analysis: A solid pick
Turn 10 Studios has operated efficiently for some time, so this seems like a reliable pick for Booty's replacement. It'll be interesting to see how or even if Hartman's management style differs from that of Booty, but it'll also probably take a long while for any differences to be noticeable.
With both Xbox Game Studios and Bethesda Softworks reporting to Booty now, I'm hoping to see even more collaboration in the future, with development teams supporting each other's projects, as well as sharing ideas and technology.
