With Xbox Game Studios leader Alan Hartman set to retire by November, Rare Studios’ Craig Duncan has been selected to take up his role at Microsoft’s in-house development studio.

As first reported by gameindustry.biz, Hartman steps down after just one year at the helm of Xbox Game Studios. He had previously worked on the Forza series with Turn 10 starting in 2005, and has been in the video game industry since 1988, working on CD-ROMs for Microsoft.

Duncan, meanwhile, has been the head of Rare Studios since 2011, with previous leadership experience at Midway. Under Duncan’s supervision, Rare released five games, including the popular online title Sea of Thieves.

Microsoft president of game content Matt Booty, who had previously held the role of Xbox Game Studios head, issued a memo to the company thanking Hartman and endorsing Duncan.

“When seeking our next leader to navigate the complexities of our business and foster the creativity needed for our games to thrive, we collaborated with HR to evaluate both external and internal candidates, considering the unique demands of the XGS role,” the memo said.

Duncan steps into a bit of a difficult position for Xbox, with the platform struggling to secure exclusives after a strong year from Sony. However, the brand’s existing properties, namely Halo Studios, have shown signs of growth and future projects.

Rare developers Joe Neate and Jim Horth have been promoted to co-leads of the studio.