Xbox hires game industry analyst Matthew Ball to lead strategy

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Microsoft has recruited game industry analyst Matthew Ball as Xbox chief strategy officer. Ball publishes an annual state of video gaming report, which is a popular read across the game industry, and he’s “widely respected across gaming, media, and technology,” according to Xbox CEO Asha Sharma.

Sharma announced Ball is joining Microsoft in a memo to Xbox employees this morning, seen by The Verge. She described Ball as a “longtime gamer,” who has held strategy and leadership roles at Illumination, Amazon Studios, Otter Media, and Accenture Strategy. “Matthew has been partnering with us on strategy since day 10 and will officially start this month, reporting to me,” says Sharma.

Xbox also has a new chief technology officer. “Scott Van Vliet is joining as our CTO,” says Sharma. “Scott has spent more than two decades building technology and consumer platforms across cloud, commerce, gaming, and entertainment.”

Scott Van Vliet...

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