The head of Xbox Live is leaving after 15 years at Microsoft

Dan McCulloch also previously led Xbox’s HoloLens and mixed reality teams

Xbox Live general manager Dan McCulloch has announced that he’s moving on after 15 years at Microsoft’s gaming arm.

McCulloch, who has served as head of Xbox Live for almost three years, said he would announce his next career move soon.

Prior to overseeing Xbox Live, McCulloch held a variety of roles at Microsoft including head of mixed reality for Xbox, HoloLens studio manager, and Microsoft Game Studios portfolio manager for all first-party Kinect titles.

“After 15 years at XBOX, I announced today that I would be leaving,” McCulloch wrote. “I made so many friends, learned so much and truly had a blast!

“I’m extremely excited about the next opportunity in my career and I will be announcing that very soon, you all will be pumped! 😉 Thank you!”

McCulloch will leave Microsoft with the company preparing to launch its next generation console, Xbox Series X, during the 2020 holiday season.

Microsoft also recently announced record engagement figures for gaming services including Xbox Live and Xbox Game Pass.

Xbox Live active users approached 90 million and Xbox Game Pass subscribers topped 10 million during Microsoft’s third financial quarter ended in March 2020.

Mike Ybarra, formerly corporate vice president of Xbox Live, Xbox Game Pass and Mixer, left Microsoft to become Blizzard GM in October 2019 after 20 years with the company.

Rod Fergusson, previously the head of Microsoft’s Gears of War studio The Coalition, also joined Blizzard this year to oversee its Diablo franchise.