Louise O'Connor from Rare has been named as the new chief of staff at Xbox Game Studios

Louise O'Connor, previously an executive producer at Rare, has taken on the position of chief of staff at Xbox Game Studios.

According to VGC, O'Connor's transition comes after she spent 25 years at Rare, where she initially contributed to the 2001 game Conker's Bad Fur Day. Her new role follows the discontinuation of the Everwild project earlier this year.

Craig Duncan, who previously led the studio, departed at the end of last year after stepping into the position of head of Xbox Game Studios succeeding Alan Hartman's retirement.

The cancelation of Everwild was part of significant reductions in Microsoft's gaming sector, which coincided with the completion of Microsoft's fiscal year on June 30. This downsizing affected about 4% of the workforce, translating to approximately 9,000 job losses.

This marked the fourth series of layoffs in Microsoft's gaming department over 18 months. Previously, Microsoft announced a further 3% reduction in its workforce in May.