Xbox news again? Can you guys not go five minutes without something happening? This time it’s the departure of two high-level Xbox employees, sparking debates about why they’ve left.

Christopher Dring of The Game Business is gifting us all the information this time. Dring reports that Xbox Game Studios boss Craig Duncan has stepped down from the role after spending just over 18 months in the position, and is departing the company entirely. Until a replacement is found, Xbox’s many studios will answer to Chief Content Officer Matt Booty.

Duncan has been with Xbox since 2011, including 14 years running Rare. And prior to his Xbox career, the man spent time at the likes of Codemasters and Midway. He stepped up into the role of Head of Xbox Game Studios in October of 2024.

Xbox Game Studios chief of staff Louise O’Connor is also apparently stepping down. She joined Rare back in 1999 as an animator. She left Rare shortly before Everwild was cancelled in 2025, taking on the role of chief of staff in September of that same year. That means she’s barely even settled into her role before departing.

In an email sent out to Xbox staff, Duncan had this to say about himself and O’Connor: “Together, we set out to deliver high-quality games, strengthen the cultural fabric across our studios, and help shape the future of the business. I’m proud to say we delivered many flawless launches that drove business success for the company.”

Now, we reach the speculative part of the news. Why now? Duncan has only been at the job for a relatively short time, after all. And O’Connor leaving after just months on the job heavily implies her position had a lot to do with Duncan, too.

There could be a few potential reasons. The most obvious is that huge leadership shakeups are extremely common in the months following a new CEO taking over. Asha Sharma is looking to “reset” the brand and has already brought in quite a few of her past colleagues to help with that goal, so both Duncan and O’Connor may have been given their marching orders, which at that sort of corporate level usually means being given the chance to step aside rather than being fired.

It may simply be a case that Sharma’s vision of Xbox doesn’t align with Duncan and O’Connor’s. Both of them stepped into the roles under the rule of Phil Spencer who was steering Xbox into a multiplatform publishing giant, whereas Sharma appears to be focused on rebuilding Xbox as a stronger platform and hardware brand, even bringing back exclusive games.

However, there’s also the reports of a massive round of layoffs coming up at Xbox, so there’s also the possibility that both Duncan and O’Connor saw the extent and decided to either bail out because they wanted nothing to do with it, or figure they’ll be part of the cuts and decided to walk before that happens.

Reading through some of the reaction has been fascinating. Many people are frustrated that Xbox can’t seem to go a month without another major restructuring, leadership change or strategic pivot. But the uncomfortable reality is that standing still isn’t really an option either. Whether you agree with Asha Sharma’s plans or not, Xbox clearly believes the status quo wasn’t working. The challenge now is convincing players that all of this upheaval is actually leading somewhere.