Steve Ballmer Replaces Don Mattrick to Head Xbox Division

GAMERS, GAMERS, GAMERS! Are you ready? Earlier this week, Microsoft’s Senior VP of the company’s Xbox Division up and left for Zynga, to take over as CEO there. The move was sudden, and no doubt had a little something to do with the Xbox One debacle that the company is still trying to get out of (note: Mattrick was the one who recommended that if we don’t like the Xbox One’s DRM, we could stick with the Xbox 360).

Well, in a move I’m sure no one saw coming, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has stepped in to replace Mattrick, as he stated in an email sent to staff.

“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.“

The move seems like a bit of a bizarre one, given Ballmer has quite a number of responsibilities already – and let’s face it, other parts of Microsoft have not been generating the best public opinion lately. I’m still interested to see where this goes, though. With Mattrick out of the picture, maybe Microsoft will begin to genuinely fix up its recently tarnished image. I have serious doubts that anything will get worse with Ballmer heading up the Xbox division, and wish him the best in getting things back on track.