As a part of the 1,900 job cuts that Microsoft made final week, maybe probably the most shocking was the coinciding departure of Blizzard president Mike Ybarra. It has been introduced that Ybarra’s place might be taken over by Johanna Faries, an govt who helped oversee latest Name of Responsibility titles at Activision.

Ybarra stepped into the position of firm president in 2021 with the departure of then-president J. Allen Brack, following experiences of sexual misconduct, harassment, and discrimination inside Blizzard. Ybarra initially shared the position with Jen Oneal however grew to become the only president when Oneal left the corporate shortly after.

Previous to beginning work at Activision Blizzard in 2018, Faries was an NFL govt. Her work with Name of Responsibility was largely with reference to its esports league.

There was some concern by followers that Microsoft would set up their very own management to the corporate following Ybarra’s departure. Whereas this isn’t the case, as Faries was already working at Activision Blizzard, I’m unsure it’s going to be of a lot consolation. Or possibly it is going to be in the event you’re somebody who enjoys the esports aspect of Blizzard’s video games. I don’t actually have a lot of a horse on this race.

Faries launched herself to Blizzard staff in an e-mail the place she identifies herself as a Diablo IV fan. She states that she’s conscious that Name of Duties priorities differ from the way in which Blizzard does issues and says she walks “into this position with sensitivity to these dynamics, and deep respect for Blizzard, as we start to discover taking our universes to even greater heights.”