14 DAY TRIAL // Without a doubt one of the biggest pieces of news from the gaming industry this week was the departure of Don Mattrick from his position as president of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment division (aka the Xbox group).
The executive, who has quite a lengthy history in the industry, joined, of all places, struggling social gaming company Zynga, promising to help it reach the huge potential it has alongside founder and now chairman of the board, Mark Pincus.
While without a doubt Mattrick's decision was motivated, to some degree, by the huge amount of money he received and is set to get while leading the developer, there are quite a few other possible factors that made the executive jump to the new position.
After leading the Xbox division through some of the best years of the Xbox 360, Mattrick oversaw the development of the Xbox One, not just in terms of hardware but also in terms of policies and future strategy.
This is where two possible factors appear, as Mattrick could have been either in favor of the DRM (Digital Rights Management) solutions that imposed limitations on used games or against them. It's much more likely, judging by his previous statements, that he was the leading force behind the anti-used game measures and the mandatory 24-hour online checks.
Mattrick drew the ire of fans by suggesting that, if they don't have a stable internet connection, they should just stick with the Xbox 360 and not get the Xbox One.
As such, seeing as how Microsoft recently eliminated all those limitations and the online check, Mattrick could have been furious or at least disappointed with the company's decision and decided to leave the group.
Otherwise, if he was against the limitations, Mattrick may have been angry with the company's initial decision to implement the measures, which put him in a negative light, as he was the face of the Xbox division.
Unfortunately, concrete reasoning for the move might not be revealed anytime soon, so Microsoft fans won't get an inside look at the inner workings of the Xbox group.