More changes on Xbox: Bethesda has a new studio head

Microsoft decided to make important changes in the management of its main video game companies. Bobby Kotick’s departure as CEO of Activision Blizzard, as well as other executives from the Santa Monica, California-headquartered firm, was confirmed yesterday. But Redmond representatives did not stop there, as they also confirmed changes in Zenimax Mediaparent company Bethesda.

Research is behind us star field, fall out, Elder Scrolls, Rock, earthquake And red waterfallamong other titles, will now have leadership Jill Braff. This was confirmed by Matt Booty, president of Xbox Content and Video Game Studios, in an internal message seen by Edge.

It is worth clarifying that Braff will not take on the role of CEO of Zenimax Media, but this position will remain in the hands of Jamie Leder. However, the manager will lead all teams responsible for game development within the company. This means that he will lead the work of Bethesda Games Studios, id Software, Tango Gameworks, MachineGames, Arkane Studios and Zenimax Online Studios. Likewise, the Microsoft Casual Games team will remain in charge of oversight, Redmond officials confirmed.

This change is significant because some of Bethesda’s most important executive and creative producers They will report directly to Jill Braff.. Such are the cases of Todd Howard, Matt Firor, Todd Vaughn, Heather Cooper and Paul Jensen.

Jill Braff will head Zenimax Media studio (Bethesda)

Jill Braff may not be a familiar name to many, but she has long been a leader in the entertainment world. His career in advertising began in 1990, and from there he built his space in the industry until he reached Microsoft and Bethesda.

In 1994 he joined Nintendo as a consumer research manager, and a year later he moved to SEGA, where she served as director of marketing for the US subsidiary. Later he joined Glu Mobile, a mobile game development company, where she was first head of marketing and then senior vice president of Global Distribution. In addition, he worked for Warner Bros and was instrumental in creating Ellen DeGeneres’ digital business.

In 2020 Microsoft hired her as general manager of integration and casual games for Xbox Game Studios.. Braff then played a key role in negotiating the acquisition of Zenimax Media (Bethesda) and integrating the company’s teams.

Matt Booty was excited about Jill Braff’s appointment and what it could mean for Bethesda’s future. “Taking advantage of the successful launch star field, all ZeniMax/Bethesda studios are dedicated to creating some of the most exciting and innovative games in the industry. “I am confident that Jill’s leadership and support of the teams, as well as her proven ability to build meaningful bridges with Xbox, will further empower everyone at Bethesda to deliver incredible experiences for our players,” he said.

Bethesda has big plans for 2024, both in gaming and beyond. Yesterday the company detailed how big the update is star field which will reach players next year. He is also involved in the TV adaptation fall out, from Amazon Prime Video. Jonathan Nolan’s series will be released in April and, at least from what we’ve seen so far, it promises to be faithful to the franchise. Todd Howard, who led the development of the game series, took an active part in production.