The world of video games is constantly changing and evolving, and it’s not just through the making of titles and handhelds and consoles, it’s through the very people that help make these titles. People are constantly leaving, getting promoted, or something in between, and when a particularly big move happens, people notice. For example, Microsoft promoted Matt Booty to the head of Microsoft Studios. This left a vacancy, as someone needed to head up the Minecraft team. That honor was given to Helen Chiang.
This is significant for numerous reasons, but the biggest one is that Helen is now the first woman of color to lead a gaming team like this. The move got a lot of positive buzz for Microsoft, and it was a good move as a business too, as Chiang has a ton of experience, including 9-years with the company. She gave an interview with PopSugar, and talked about what the promotion meant to her, and how she’s looking forward to helping the Minecraft team.
“I’ve gotten to know the people in the studio really well over the last three years, and I can’t think of a better team to get to lead,” Chiang noted. “When I think about what’s next for us — well, my job is really not to change the plan that we’re on, but to focus on a number of different things.”
Focus on what exactly? Well, Helen notes that she wants to bring more people to Bedrock in the Nintendo Switch version of the game. But even more than that, she wants to continue updating the game to such a degree that players can’t help but enjoy every aspect of it. She cites the upcoming Update Aquatic (which will fill the oceans with creatures and other fun things to do) as a perfect example of this).
So as you can see, this appears to be a good fit for the studio.
[…] recently got a new boss in the form of Helen Chiang, which is significant in and of itself. Anywho, in an interview with Pop Sugar about her appointment to the head of the game, she revealed […]