Ex-Lionhead boss to oversee Xbox and HoloLens games

Lionhead boss John Needham has been promoted to a new role where he will oversee internal development for several games on Xbox and HoloLens.

A Microsoft spokesperson told Engadget Needham will report to Microsoft corporate VP Kudo Tsunoda, who himself was only recently appointed the task of overseeing the firm’s Xbox studios across Europe and the US. Needham has relocated to Redmond, Washington to take up his new job.

The news follows the announcement of Phil Harrison’s departure from Microsoft. The industry veteran has now started up his own company, Alloy Platform Industries, which will be harnessing Microsoft technology.

"With the exception of Halo, Gears of War, Forza and Minecraft, Kudo Tsunoda will lead the vision and experience development of our other Microsoft Studios portfolio investments in the United States, Europe and across our Global Publishing team,” said a Microsoft spokesperson.

“John Needham relocated to Redmond in a new role overseeing internal development for several games and experiences for both Xbox and Microsoft HoloLens reporting to Kudo. All up responsibility for Xbox EMEA will be overseen directly by Phil Spencer."

John Needham joined Microsoft in April 2013 as studio head at Lionhead, where he later also took on the role of head of European Publishing. Prior to that, he had stints as CEO of Gazillion Entertainment, CEO of Cryptic Studios and CFO and SVP of business development and operations at Sony Online Entertainment.

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