Microsoft Appoints 'Call of Duty' Executive Johanna Faries as New Blizzard Entertainment President

Microsoft Corporation has appointed a new president for Blizzard Entertainment Inc. following Mike Ybarra's sudden departure: the tech company named Johanna Faries, the new video game developer and publisher leader.

Executive Promotions at Blizzard

Microsoft announced the promotion of Faries on Monday, Jan. 29. The firm acquired Activision Blizzard for $69 billion last year, and with Faries leaving her general manager role at "Call of Duty," Matt Cox has been tasked to take over her role as senior vice president and GM. His appointment also takes effect immediately, according to Reuters.

Faries will start her new job on Feb. 5 and take office at Blizzard Entertainment in a time of turmoil. She will be the first woman to become president of the video game firm.

Faries has been working at Activision Blizzard since 2018. After spending about 12 years at the National Football League (NFL), she moved into this company and held several leadership roles in the marketing and business departments. At one point, she became the league's vice president of club business development.

Mike Ybarra's Departure and Layoffs

Johanna Faries is succeeding Mike Ybarra, who resigned from his job at Blizzard. He submitted his resignation not long after a series of layoffs at Microsoft's gaming units, including Activision Blizzard. Game Rant reported that besides Ybarra, Allen Adham, the co-founder of Blizzard, also revealed he is leaving the company.

Meanwhile, the recent layoffs at Microsoft occurred just last week, and it terminated about 1,900 jobs at Xbox and Activision Blizzard. Ybarra and Adham immediately announced their departure after the job cuts, which were said to be part of a larger "execution plan" to reduce business areas that "overlap."

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