Mike Ybarra joins Blizzard after leaving Xbox

Mike Ybarra, former Xbox Corporate Vice President, has officially announced that he has joined Blizzard Entertainment as Executive Vice President and GM.

The announcement was made on Ybarra’s Twitter, with Ybarra stating that “[Blizzard] will work with all our energy to serve gamers with incredible content and experiences. I can’t wait to be part of this team. #lucky #humble #gamers #serve”

I'm very happy to announce I'm joining @Blizzard_Ent as Exec. Vice President and GM starting 11/4 (will be at #blizzcon!). We will work with all our energy to serve gamers with incredible content and experiences. I can't wait to be part of this team. #lucky #humble #gamers #serve pic.twitter.com/kZ8dRuF3pe

— Mike Ybarra (@Qwik) October 24, 2019

The news of Ybarra’s move to Blizzard comes after he announced his departure from the Xbox team at the start of October, marking the end of his 20 years at Microsoft.

“After 20 years at Microsoft, it’s time for my next adventure.” Ybarra tweeted at the time. “It’s been a great ride at Xbox and the future is bright. Thanks to everyone at TeamXbox, I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve accomplished and I wish you the best.”

Ybarra joined Microsoft back in 1999 as a hardware engineer. From there, he found his way to General Manager for Windows 7, to General Manager for Xbox Live, then to Partner Studio Manager for Xbox Studios, and finally Corporate VP.

Ybarra formally starts his new role at Blizzard on the 4th of November and will be attending #Blizzcon as part of Blizzard’s staff.