Head Of Microsoft Xbox Resigns

Microsoft on Tuesday said Peter Moore resigned as head of the company's Interactive Entertainment Business unit, which includes the Xbox video game console, and will pursue another "opportunity in the video games industry."

Don Mattrick, a former president at game maker Electronic Arts, will replace Moore as corporate VP in charge of IEB. Moore's resignation is effective July 30. He is scheduled to remain at Microsoft through August to assist in the transition.

Moore's resignation follows some troubling weeks for Microsoft's Xbox business. Two weeks ago, Microsoft said it will set aside more than $1 billion to cover an extended warranty program for an "unacceptable" number of repairs that owners have had to seek for their Xbox 360s. General hardware failure has been a major problem.

Microsoft also faces a $5 million federal class-action lawsuit filed in Florida that claims the company is responsible for a defect in the video game console that scratches game disks and makes them unusable. Plaintiff Jorge Brouwer of Broward County, Fla., claims the Xbox was "negligently designed and manufactured."

But Robbie Bach, president of Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft, praised Moore's work. "Peter has contributed enormously to the games business since joining Microsoft in 2003 and we are sad to see him go," Bach said.

Mattrick has been in the games industry for 23 years. While at EA, he worked on such game franchises as "Need For Speed," "Harry Potter," and "The Sims."

Moore plans to move his family back to the San Francisco Bay area, where he has another "opportunity in the video games industry," Microsoft said in a statement.

While Microsoft didn't say where Moore will work next, a statement issued by Jack Tretton, president and chief executive of Sony Computer Entertainment America, which makes Xbox competitor PlayStation 3, said Moore was leaving to go to EA.