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

Louise O'Connor, previously an executive producer at Rare, is now the chief of staff at Xbox Game Studios.

According to VGC, O'Connor has spent 25 years at Rare, starting when the company was involved in developing the 2001 platform game, Conker's Bad Fur Day. Her transition comes after the discontinuation of the fantasy adventure project, Everwild, earlier this year.

Craig Duncan, the previous leader of Rare, departed last year, stepping into the position of head of Xbox Game Studios after Alan Hartman's retirement.

Everwild's cancellation coincided with significant downsizing in Microsoft's gaming division, aligning with the conclusion of its fiscal year on June 30. The layoffs affected about 4% of the workforce, translating to roughly 9,000 roles.

This marked the fourth wave of job cuts in Microsoft's gaming division over 18 months, following a previous reduction where 3% of employees were let go in May.