Minecraft boss is now in charge of all Xbox game efforts

Microsoft has promoted Matt Booty, a leader in the Minecraft games business, as corporate vice president of Microsoft Studios, making him one of the top game executive reporting to his boss, Phil Spencer, executive vice president for games.

The appointment fills a key post within the games group after Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella promoted Spencer to executive vice president in a strategic role overseeing all games, game hardware, and game platform strategy at Microsoft. That promotion left the job of overseeing game development and publishing open, and now Booty has filled that post. It sets in motion a clear succession plan within the games business, and beefs up the company’s ability to move quickly in games, the executives said.