TECH NEWS – Chris Novak has spent nearly 20 years developing Microsoft’s Xbox, so his quitting announcement two days ago may came as a surprise.

Chris Novak, the head of research and design at Xbox, announced on his LinkedIn profile on April 19 that while he has fond memories of his time at Microsoft, he has decided to leave the company.

“I have resigned from Xbox and from Microsoft, and my last day is today, the 19th,”

“I started at Xbox in November of 2002, so after nearly 20 years I know this news can either come as a surprise, or as expected. It’s a mix of both!”

Chris Novak joined the Xbox team in 2002 and worked there for seven years as a design director, working on games such as Project Gotham Racing 2, 3 and 4, Crackdown and the first Forza Motorsport. In 2009, he became a design architect at Microsoft Studios, later becoming a first-party design representative, and in 2016 he became the head of Xbox Research and Design. Novak’s later career at Microsoft includes games such as Quantum Break, Sunset Overdrive and Ryse: Son of Rome, and he also helped develop HoloLens.

He said that – despite giving no exact reason for his resign – it wasn’t the company or Xbox that prompted him to make the move, but that he had been thinking about quitting for years. According to him, it was for reasons unrelated to Xbox (perhaps personal?) that motivated him to finally announce his departure.

“My journey has a period of reflection and rest in its immediate future, one I promised myself a few years ago after a significant event outside of work,” – he wrote on his LinkedIn page.

“I’m going to spend some time doing a life and design tour everywhere I can. If you want to collaborate and chat design, games, or product please reach out (no matter the industry). I’ve found that the best things I’ve seen or done in games have sparked from other areas, and I want to lean into that in a big way.”

After becoming head of research and design, he became responsible for working on improving and enhancing the user experience in all games or game related products Microsoft had.

“I have loved my time with Xbox. Building end-to-end experiences for gamers is a privilege. There are very few things one gets to work on in life which evoke such passion in people around the world. I adore listening to gamers and envisioning that next moment of unexpected delight. Gaming is amazing. Xbox will always be with me.”

“I will always root for Xbox, for user-centered process, and most importantly for the voices of countless gamers around the world looking for ways to connect to one another and the games they love. They are who we really work for.”

Source: VGC