Matt Booty has taken the helm of Microsoft Studios, Microsoft’s division for game development and publishing. He now fills the position left by Phil Spencer, whom Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella promoted to Executive Vice President For Games last September.
According to an interview with GamesBeat, Booty will oversee development and publishing of individual games across multiple platforms. This will include Xbox, Windows 10, Android, and iOS, as well as platforms such as the Nintendo Switch and Sony PlayStation 4, which have ports of Minecraft. He will report to Spencer, who will oversee the strategy for gaming as a whole, including software, hardware, and online service. All of the individual development teams and studios will report to Booty.
“I wanted to make sure we had the right organization in place to deliver on our content goals. With that, I made the decision that I wanted to anoint a leader of our Microsoft Studios organization, which if you’ve tracked it, I’ve had the leaders of our individual franchises reporting to me for the last three and a half years,” Spencer said.
Booty was previously in charge of Mojang, the developer of Minecraft. He started his career in gaming at Midway Games in 1991 as an engineer, and later a programmer and designer, eventually becoming the general manager of the Chicago studio and CEO of Midway in 2008. Booty joined Microsoft Studios in 2010 and initially helped launch games for Windows Phone, later leading development and publishing for Xbox Live Arcade.
“Most important will be to get behind the idea that we live and die by the great games we make. Content is extremely important to our strategy going forward…That’s the approach I have, to come into it as a service role, as an opportunity to provide a layer of leadership and help to the studio heads, so they can focus on making great games.” Booty said.
