Xbox announced a three‑person shake‑up of its leadership team. Author and former Amazon Studios executive Matthew Ball joins as chief strategy officer, while Scott Van Vliet steps in as chief technology officer. In addition, Chris Schnakenberg, a former Activision Blizzard executive, has been promoted to corporate vice president of partnerships and business development.
Ball, who wrote the 2022 bestseller The Metaverse, currently runs Epyllion, a firm that provides investment, advisory and media production services. Van Vliet previously led engineering for Microsoft Teams during the pandemic, contributed to Azure OpenAI, and held senior roles at Amazon and Mattel’s digital‑play division. Schnakenberg’s new remit focuses on strengthening ties with third‑party developers and publishers.
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma said the moves are intended to bring clarity and improve execution as the company heads toward its upcoming Showcase and the launch of Project Helix, a new system that will run PC games and could retail above $1,000. The changes come after a recent Game Pass price cut and the removal of Call of Duty from the service’s launch‑day lineup.
