Microsoft recently hired Valve's former director of business development Jason Holtman. The executive, who had been with Valve for eight years, will now lead Microsoft's PC gaming and entertainment division according to Holtman's LinkedIn page.
Holtman confirmed the news through a brief statement to GamesIndustry International. In it, he said he had indeed joined the Microsoft team where he will be focused on making Windows a great platform for gaming and interactive entertainment. Furthermore, he believes there is a lot of opportunity for Redmond to deliver the games and entertainment that customers want. To work with developers to make that happen is exciting, he concluded.
Rumors surfaced back in February that Valve was preparing to lay off multiple employees after the firing of Jeri Ellsworth one day prior. That just so happened to be around the same time that Holtman departed although it was never clear if he was let go or decided to leave on his own accord. It is believed that more than two dozen Valve employees were let go but the company never confirmed or denied the reports.
During his time at Valve, Holtman was one of the biggest forces behind the growth of Steam as it slowly grew to become the largest source for downloadable PC games. He was even responsible for bringing several third-party publishers to the platform, we're told. It'll no doubt be interesting to see how his experience at Valve will be utilized at his new workplace.