How Darrell Gallagher plans to build Microsoft’s The Initiative studio in Santa Monica

Microsoft made news this week as it announced it was buying four game development studios and opening a fifth. That’s part of the company’s plan to level up in the game business by making more of its own games for the Xbox One and Windows PC platforms.

At the tip of this spear is Darrell Gallagher, who is the head for the new game development studio, dubbed The Initiative, that Microsoft is opening in Santa Monica, California. The fact that Microsoft chose Santa Monica is interesting, as it is part of the bustling Los Angeles metropolitan area that is increasingly home to more game companies. It is also the home of rivals such as Sony Santa Monica Studio, which made God of War, and Treyarch, maker of this year’s Call of Duty.