Shannon Loftis is General Manager for Studios 1st Publishing on Team Xbox. Shannon has been with Microsoft for 23 years, and making games for the vast majority of that time. The youngest in a large family, Shannon has long valued inclusion and connection. Technology's ability to connect and to divide humans has been a passion and a fascination for Shannon throughout her career.Shannon studied computer science and mathematics at Duke University. She joined Microsoft in 1993 and quickly migrated to the Games group. Her earliest work focused on the creation of online card-playing games, utilizing the emerging consumer potential of the internet and social game design. As publishing producer, Shannon was responsible for multiplayer games across PC, Xbox, and Xbox 360, including the Madness series (Motocross Madness, Monster Truck Madness, and Midtown Madness), Project Gotham Racing, the Fable series, the Viva Pinata series, Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts, and many others. In total, Shannon contributed to more than 40 games.Additionally, Shannon has built and managed many global teams at Microsoft. In 2007, Shannon started a European games publishing unit in the UK, focusing on creating market-appropriate content for European consumers and integrating acquired studios. In 2009, Shannon created the Good Science studio from the ground up to explore the potential for, greenlight, and ship Kinect including creating core technology and many Kinect games. She ran first party global publishing for several years, releasing titles with developers all over the world. In July of 2019, Shannon became the head of a new studio, World's Edge, focused on all things Age of Empires-related.In her free time, Shannon enjoys gaming, travelling, hiking, running, parkour, spending time with her husband and sons, and attending family reunions. Show less «