Xbox Live founder, Boyd Multerer, announced that he is signing out from Microsoft after working of the Seattle based tech giant for 17 years. Boyd Multerer revealed his departure via his official twitter account today, and while he didn’t elaborate on what his post Microsoft and Xbox plans were, he did have this to say in a series of tweets. “Goodbye Microsoft. It was a good run. Xbox was great! Time to do something new. Not yet ready to say what that new thing is… But OMG is writing code very day and exploring ideas fun! Wow. Lots of kind words coming in today. I’m proud to have affected so many and hope to continue doing so!”
Video game fans are certainly tantalized by what Boyd Multerer’s future holds as he is guaranteed to continue to make huge contributions to the gaming community. Why is everyone so excited about his future? Well since first joining Microsoft in 1997, Multerer was tapped to lead the development team that would eventually introduce Xbox Live to the world. Besides the notable claim to fame as the very first person on XBox Live, he then lent his talents to XNA so that he could develop “the first open marketplace on a console.” Boyd Multerer most recently saw the continued growth of Microsoft’s gaming consoles, Xbox 360 and Xbox One as the Xbox’s Director of Development.
Boyd Multerer is not the first of the Xbox dream team to leave the Microsoft Xbox Team’s warm embrace. Some of the most notable Xbox vacancies include the program manager for Xbox One TV (vacated by Ben Smith), President of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business (previously held by Don Mattrick), and Chief Product Officer for Xbox (Marc Whitten). Xbox Entertainment Studios has also seen some of their own leave with the departure of Jordan Levin and Nancy Tellem. What do you think about all of this recent spate of Xbox Team departures? Do you think this will give Microsoft a much needed breath of fresh air for their Xbox division or does it make you worry for the possible future direction of the console?