Phil Spencer Named Head of Xbox

Today Phil Spencer has been promoted from Corporate Vice President of Microsoft Game Studios to the Head of Xbox. This move combines the Xbox and Xbox Live development teams with the Microsoft Studios team. He will report directly to Terry Myerson, the Executive Vice President of Operating Systems at Microsoft. As the new Head of Xbox, Spender will be leading the Xbox Music and Xbox Video initiatives as well.

Spencer has been key to solving the issues many consumers had after Microsoft initially announced the Xbox One last year and was met with criticism regarding its DRM policies. As Spencer looks to the future he had this to say about the Xbox brand, “Our mission is to build a world-class team, work hard to meet the high expectations of a passionate fan base, create the best games and entertainment and drive technical innovation. As we continue forward, this renewed focus and mission will be a foundational part of how I lead the Xbox program.”

Microsoft has been steadily making changes and offering incentives to help the Xbox One compete with Sony’s PlayStation 4 next-generation console. With Spencer’s new position, we should see a stronger push by Microsoft to regain its former console supremacy.