Former Xbox VP Mike Ybarra will join Blizzard as VP and GM

Weeks after ending a career with Microsoft which spanned nearly two decades, former Xbox vice president, Mike Ybarra announced his move to Blizzard Entertainment via Twitter. 

Ybarra will join Blizzard on November 4, right after BlizzCon 2019. However, he will have his work cut out for him as Blizzard hasn’t been in gamers’ good books for some time now. The most recent controversy the company has been caught up in is with regards to its treatment of Hong Kong Hearthstone Grandmaster Blitzchung who Blizzard punished for showing his support for the Hong Kong protests on an official stream. The backlash has led to boycotts and a planned demonstration at next week’s BlizzCon.

Ybarra joined Microsoft in the year 2000 and quickly rose to the rank of Xbox Live general manager in 2009. In 2017 he was then appointed the corporate vice president of gaming. He shares credit for defusing the situation regarding Microsoft’s Mattrick-era reveal of the original Xbox One, which could be one of the reasons behind his new appointment. Blizzard has seen a couple of executives leave in the past twelve months. Examples include Overwatch League commissioner Nate Nanzer, global esports director Kim Phan and Blizzard Entertainment co-founder and former president Mike Morhaime.