After 12 years at Microsoft, Ina Gelbert will leave her place to Cédric Mimouni, head of the Gaming category for Western Europe at Xbox, will extend his role by also supervising France from July 1, 2023.
Movement at Xbox France
After more than 10 years at Xbox, including recently as head of the Western Europe region, Cédric Mimouni will now assume responsibility for France. This decision follows the departure of Ina Gelbert, who is leaving Microsoft after 12 years to embark on a new entrepreneurial adventure outside the video game sector.
Ina Gelbert, who started at Xbox France as Head of Platform and was promoted to Head of Xbox France in 2019, played a key role in launching the new generation of Xbox consoles, including Xbox Series X and S in 2020. She also represented the brand at local events such as Paris Games Week and the Woman in Games France roundtables, strengthening Xbox’s presence in the French market. Cedric Mimouni said this:
“First of all, I would like to thank Ina for the quality of her work on the Xbox brand and the efforts made to make it shine in France in many aspects. Ina is my friend and she will be missed. It is with honor and humility that I continue my journey at Xbox, where I have spent the last ten years of my professional life in different roles and different countries. I will put all my energy into continuing to make Xbox a great place for everyone in France.“
Here is what Ina Gelbert said about this passing of the torch:
“After 4 exciting years at the head of Xbox in France, it is time for me to take a turn in my professional career, and to carry out a project that I have been thinking about for a long time.
These past four years have been nothing short of incredible, and I find it hard to measure how lucky I have been to be able to work on so many exciting projects, with such a great team, in an ecosystem rich in creativity and innovation, and above all also promising and unifying. As a woman in the video game industry, I was keen to promote diversity and give more visibility to talented women who contribute to this industry, while encouraging younger people to join us. I am convinced that diversity, and not just gender diversity, is an essential driver of innovation and the success of teams, and I hope that the various initiatives led by Xbox in France have made it possible to highlight this topic in our beautiful industry.
I’m going to another world, but I’ll always be happy to meet you to talk about games and Xbox at the first opportunity!“
As a woman working in the video game industry, Ina Gelbert has been particularly committed to promoting the diversity and visibility of talented women who contribute to this sector. She firmly believes that diversity, in all its forms, is a key driver of innovation and team success. She hopes that the initiatives launched by Xbox in France have helped bring this issue to light in the industry.
