Former Xbox exec Mike Ybarra joins Blizzard as EVP and GM

Former Xbox Live, Game Pass, and Mixer corporate vice president Mike Ybarra has announced that he is joining Blizzard as the company’s new executive vice president and general manager.

Ybarra made the announcement on Twitter just ahead of Blizzard’s annual Blizzcon event, noting that he officially steps into the role next month.

“I'm very happy to announce I'm joining [Blizzard] as Exec. Vice President and GM starting 11/4 (will be at #blizzcon!),” reads that tweet. “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.”

Prior to his new role at World of Warcraft and Overwatch developer Blizzard, Ybarra spent 20 years at Microsoft in total. In recent years, he was tasked with overseeing Xbox’s suite of live services like Xbox Live, Game Pass, and Mixer. He officially departed Microsoft earlier this month, just days after the yet-ongoing controversy over Blizzard’s reaction to a Hearthstone pro’s ‘liberate Hong Kong’ comments during an interview first started.