Nous avons appris hier le départ de Don Mattrick chez Zynga, et si l’on s’attendait à l’annonce de son remplaçant, il faudra patienter encore un peu. Dans un email adressé à ses employés, Steve Ballmer, le PDG de Microsoft, a indiqué que les N-1 de Don Mattrick lui reporteront directement, sans évoquer de successeur.
Don Mattrick reste officiellement directeur de la branche Interactive Entertainment Business jusqu’au 8 juillet, date à laquelle il prendra la direction de Zynga. Il est très peu probable que ce départ soit directement lié aux récents cafouillages autour de la Xbox One pendant la période de l’E3. Ce type de carrière ne se fait pas en quelques jours, et on peut se dire que des discussions étaient déjà en cours bien avant les récents événements. Quoi qu’il en soit, Steve Ballmer remercie Don Mattrick pour ses 6 ans de loyaux services. Il aura su faire passer le nombre de membres Xbox Live de 6 millions à 48 millions, faire de la Xbox 360 un franc succès et assurer le lancement réussi de Kinect avec 24 millions de caméras vendues.
From : Steve Ballmer Sent : Monday, July 1, 2013 To : Microsoft – All Employees Subject : Don Mattrick’s Next Chapter
Zynga announced today that Don Mattrick would be its new CEO, effective July 8. This is a great opportunity for Don, and I wish him success. Don’s directs will report to me and will continue to drive the day-to-day business as a team, particularly focused on shipping Xbox One this holiday.
Since joining IEB more than six years ago, Don and his team have accomplished much. Xbox Live members grew from 6 million to 48 million. Xbox 360 became the No. 1 selling console in North America the past two years. We introduced Kinect and have sold more than 24 million sensors. We released fantastic games, and, most importantly, we expanded Xbox to go beyond great gaming to deliver all the entertainment people want — sports, music, movies, live television and much more.
In the past month, the IEB team showed for the first time here on our Redmond campus, and again at E3, how we are going to continue to transform entertainment with Xbox One. I am incredibly proud of the work and vision culminating in Xbox One.
I’m particularly excited about how Xbox pushes forward our devices and services transformation by bringing together the best of Microsoft. The consoles are incredible all-in-one devices with built-in services that consumers love, including Bing, Xbox Live, Internet Explorer, SkyDrive and Skype. And, just as important, Xbox Games, Xbox Video, Xbox Music and SmartGlass light up Windows PCs, tablets and phones.
Thank you, Don, for setting us on a path to completely redefine the entertainment industry. The strong leadership team at IEB and their teams are well positioned to deliver the next-generation entertainment console, as well as transformative entertainment experiences, long into the future.
Steve
