As Microsoft’s Xbox group moves toward launching a successor to the Xbox 360, it will do so without the leadership of Don Coyner, who has guided that strategy since the console’s inception more than a decade ago.

Multiple sources who work for Microsoft say Coyner is no longer leading the design and experience group for Xbox. One of those sources said Coyner was replaced by Emma Williams, who helped guide the just-launched redesign of the Xbox Live interface.

Microsoft declined to confirm or deny the organization changes. “We don’t comment on personnel issues,” a spokesman said.
Coyner is a well-regarded executive at Microsoft, who joined the Xbox team as the company began working on the video game console in 1999. Coyner started as director of marketing for the group. As development of the Xbox 360 gained steam, his role expanded to include user experience. According to journalist Dean Takahashi’s book, “The Xbox 360 Uncloaked,” Coyner championed creating a unified design language for Microsoft’s second stab at console gaming.

“He wanted to whole user experience to be consistent, like an Apple product, where everything from the screen to the package looked like it was designed by just one person,” Takahashi, now lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat, wrote.

That unified design won plaudits for the console at its 2005 debut and helped propel it too much greater success than its predecessor. Sales of the device have continued to grow month-over-month, defying conventional wisdom that console sales should taper after five years or so. Xbox 360 will finish this year as the best-selling console in the United States.