Rare Veteran Louise O’Connor Appointed Chief of Staff at Xbox Game Studios
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Key points
- Louise O’Connor has been stealthily named Chief of Staff at Xbox Game Studios.
- This happened a month after the cancellation of Everwild, due to the huge Microsoft layoffs.
- O’Connor is one of the most senior staff members at Rare, starting work there in 1999.
A veteran from Rare, Louise O’Connor, has been stealthily named Chief of Staff at Xbox Game Studios after the cancellation of Everwild. O’Connor is one of the most senior staff members at Rare, starting work there in 1999.
She has been credited with animation on games such as Conker’s Bad Fur Day, Kinect Sports and Conker: Live and Reloaded. Additionally, she has also provided voice acting on several occasions in various games.
O’Connor, being named the Chief of Staff at Xbox Game Studios, came after huge layoffs happened at Microsoft in July. The layoffs led to the cancellation of a lot of games, such as Everwild and Perfect Dark Reboot. The latter’s cancellation was due to The Initiative, the studio co-developing the game, being fully closed down.
After the layoffs, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella published a statement doubling down on its integration with AI. He also mentioned that the “overall headcount is relatively unchanged,” although the company has undergone layoffs, which left approximately 9,000 employees without work.
O’Connor’s LinkedIn page mentioned that she’s been in the position since last month. She also wrote that her work involves “supporting some of the most iconic gaming studios, leaders and teams in the world.” She did not mention if she’s involved in any projects at Microsoft.
