Moore to head up Microsoft's games business

Microsoft has reshuffled the management of its entertainment businesses into four distinct sections, with Peter Moore moving into a new role where he will oversee the entire interactive entertainment sector for the firm.

Moore, a veteran of the industry who headed up Sega of America prior to his move to Microsoft in early 2003, is currently corporate vice president of worldwide marketing and publishing for Xbox.

According to an internal memo seen by news agency Reuters, his new position will see him taking over the reins on both the Xbox division and the firm's successful Games for Windows business.

Robbie Bach, who is the head of the Entertainment and Device unit at Microsoft, will be taking a less hands-on approach with the Xbox and games businesses in future; according to this week's memo, he will be focusing instead on long-term strategy and partner relationships.

"While I will continue to play an important role in the games area, I will spend more time thinking about our broader challenges and opportunities across the division," he told staff in the e-mail.

Bach's role at the Entertainment and Device unit - one of the three business units created to encompass the three key branches of Microsoft's business in an overall corporate reshuffle in September - also encompasses music, television, video, mobile devices, consumer hardware such as mice and keyboards, and embedded systems.

As well as giving Peter Moore a much broader role overseeing the entire games business, Bach's reshuffle of the division also creates an entertainment business focused on music and video, which will be headed up by the division's current CFO, Bryan Lee.

The other two units within Entertainment and Devices will remain largely unchanged, with Tom Gibbons remaining in charge of consumer devices, while Pieter Knook stays at the helm of the mobile and embedded business.

For more insight into the thinking of the key players in Microsoft's games business, check out our recent interviews with them:

Robbie Bach interviewed at X05, October 2005[Part One][Part Two]
Peter Moore interviewed at TGS, September 2005[Part One][Part Two]