Xbox has hired two important figures to help steer the Xbox console brand into the future: Matthew Ball and Scott Van Vliet.
The news comes from The Game Business, which revealed that Ball will join as Xbox’s new chief strategy officer, and Van Vliet joins as chief technology officer.
Ball wrote the 2022 best-seller, The Metaverse, and previously worked at Amazon Studios. He is currently CEO of Epyllion, a firm that provides investment and strategic advisory services, in addition to producing television, films, and video games.
Van Vliet previously led engineering for Microsoft Teams during the COVID-19 pandemic and worked on Azure OpenAI, but has also worked across Amazon services and was VP of digital play at Mattel.
Additionally, Chris Schnakenberg has been promoted to corporate vice president of partnerships and business development. Schnakenberg joined from Activision Blizzard, and his focus is now on third-party games and publishers working alongside Xbox.
In an email to staff, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma said, “These changes are about strengthening our foundation by creating more clarity and improving execution. As we head toward Showcase and beyond, we’ll continue making the changes needed to position Xbox for the future.”
The Xbox brand is currently gearing up for the announcement and release of Project Helix. The system has been confirmed to run PC games, but rumours suggest the system could cost in excess of $1,000.
In April 2026, Xbox Game Pass cut its subscription cost while removing Call of Duty from its launch-day lineup.
