Activision Blizzard Inc. announced a change in leadership by appointing a new chief technology officer following the recent departure of its longtime chief executive, Bobby Kotick. Natalya Tatarchuk took over the position of chief technology officer from Michael Vance on Jan. 8. 

Tatarchuk previously served as the head of graphics at San Francisco-based video game company Unity Software Inc., which does business as Unity Technologies. 

Prior to working at Unity, she served as the graphics lead and engineering architect at Bungie Inc., a gaming studio based in Bellevue, Washington, where she worked on franchises such as “Destiny” and “Halo.” Microsoft Corp., which acquired Activision in October of last year for a reported $68.7 billion, purchased Bungie in 2000.

“It’s truly an honor to join this trailblazing team,” Tatarchuk wrote. “As a longtime fan of Activision, closely following the innovations from the “Call of Duty” franchise, I’m excited to be a part of a team that continues to push the boundaries in the gaming industry.”

An Activision spokesperson said that Tatarchuk has an “incredible background” and will oversee technology goals for all Activision games, including its “Call of Duty” franchise, one of the most successful video game series of all time.

“(At Bungie), she pushed parallel computing boundaries, investigating advanced real-time graphics techniques and graphics hardware design and application programming interfaces,” the spokesperson said. 

“Natalya has considerable experience working for large tech and gaming companies, and she has led teams working on cutting-edge developments in console and mobile development,” the spokesperson added.

Vance joined Activision in 2008 as a technical director and will be staying on as a software engineer. He helped develop many of the games in the “Call to Duty” franchise and most recently served on the executive team for  Activision’s “Crash Team Rumble” title.

“I’ve loved helping lead our technology efforts while working with so many great people across our studios, publishing, central technology and Demonware teams,” Vance wrote. “In my new role, I look forward to continuing to work with them, Natalya and all the amazing people at Activision.”

Kotick stepped down as chief executive on Dec. 29 following Activision’s acquisition by Microsoft. Microsoft has not yet appointed his replacement but has announced a series of leadership changes that will be implemented over the next few months.

Among these include the upcoming departures of chief communications officer Lulu Meservey on Jan. 31 and of Brian Bulatao, Julie Hodges, Grant Dixton and Armin Zerza – chief administrative officer, chief people officer, chief legal officer and chief financial officer, respectively – in March. 

In a note to employees, Microsoft Gaming Chief Executive Phil Spencer said that there are no changes planned for the business structure of Activision or its subsidiaries, including Activision Publishing, Blizzard Entertainment and King Digital Entertainment.

“At the leadership level, these changes will provide the clarity and accountability that is necessary to achieve our ambitious goals and foster a culture that is welcoming, empowering and committed to gaming for everyone,” Spencer said. 

“We have an exciting 2024 lineup of games across Activision, Bethesda, Blizzard, King and Xbox Game Studios, and I know that we all look forward to sharing more details with our player communities when the time is right,” Spencer added.