Former Xbox executive Mike Ybarra is joining Blizzard

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He starts as executive vice president and GM next month.

(Image credit: Blizzard)

Former Xbox vice president Mike Ybarra is joining Blizzard next month. He announced the news on Twitter, only weeks after it emerged that he would leave Microsoft after nearly 20 years with the company.

As the tweet reports, Ybarra will join the company on November 4 as executive vice president and general manager. He'll do so at an awkward time for Blizzard: the company has been awash in all sorts of controversy over the last 12 months, ranging an ill-received Diablo phone game, through to its treatment of Hearthstone Grandmaster Blitzchung following his on-stream pro-Hong Kong protests. That said, all evidence points to next month's Blizzcon being a big one.

Ybarra joined Microsoft in 2000 before eventually being promoted to general manager of Xbox Live in 2009. He became corporate vice president of gaming in 2017. His arrival at Blizzard comes after a series of departures from the company, including Mike Morhaime back in January.

Shaun Prescott
Shaun Prescott
Australian Editor

Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.