Rare’s Craig Duncan to become head of Xbox Game Studios as Alan Hartman retires

The head of Xbox Game Studios Alan Hartman will retire from the company at the end of November, with Rare boss Craig Duncan taking over.

Hartman is best known for leading and forming Turn 10 in 2005, the studio behind the Forza franchise. He stepped up to lead Xbox Game Studios last year. He’s also worked on hit Microsoft franchises including Age of Empires and Fable during a 36-year video game career.

Taking his place is Rare studio boss Craig Duncan. Duncan has led Rare for the best part of 14 years, overseeing the studio’s Kinect titles and the launch of its live service hit Sea of Thieves, which has had more than 40 million players since it launched in 2018.

In September, he attended the 2024 GamesIndustry.biz Best Places To Work Awards, where Rare picked up three awards.

Prior to Rare, Duncan has held multiple development leadership roles at the likes of Sumo Digital, Midway and Codemasters. He’s also VP of the charity SpecialEffect.

His new role encompasses Xbox teams including Halo Studios, The Coalition, Turn 10, Playground Games, Rare, Obsidian, Ninja Theory, Compulsion Games, The Initiative, Double Fine, InXile, Undead Labs, World’s Edge and more. Duncan will report into the president of Game Content and Studios, Matt Booty.

Replacing Duncan at Rare is Joe Neate and Jim Horth. Neate joined Rare in 2013 and has led the Sea of Thieves project as executive producer. Prior to Rare, he held senior roles at Sumo Digital and Midway. Meanwhile, Horth has been part of the Rare team for over 20 years, and has held multiple roles, most recently as studio director.

“Alan’s career has been marked by innovation, dedication, and an unwavering passion for gaming,” Booty wrote to staff in an email.

“Starting as a contractor at Microsoft in the fledgling CD-ROM group in 1988, Alan has worked on a variety of projects in his time here, from Age of Empires, to Brute Force as the studio head of Digital Anvil, to the founding of Turn 10. Over the years, Alan, Turn 10 and Playground Games delivered 13 Forza Motorsport and Forza Horizon games, building Forza into one of the top racing franchises in the world and regularly pushing the capabilities of our hardware. His work to advance accessibility in gaming has set a benchmark for the industry and under his leadership, Xbox Game Studios has shipped multiple critically acclaimed titles this year and set the stage for highly anticipated games like Avowed, South of Midnight, Fable, and more.”

Hartman said in a LinkedIn post: “Being a Studio Head in Gaming is one of the most rewarding and challenging roles in entertainment. I believe it is the best job at Microsoft. I always knew we had immense talent across XGS, but I didn’t realize how much I would enjoy spending time with our studio leaders and their teams. It has been an honor to represent XGS, and I truly mean this – a pleasure getting to spend time with all of our studios.

“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.”

Booty added: “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.”