Microsoft Game Studios president Phil Spencer has today been appointed to oversee the entire Xbox division by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.
In an employee statement, Nadella wrote:
"I have asked Phil Spencer to take on a new role leading Xbox, combining the Xbox and Xbox Live development teams with the Microsoft Studios team. Phil will report to Terry Myerson (Microsoft's Executive Vice President of Operating Systems), allowing us to keep gaming close to the group developing operating systems across devices."
Spencer will oversee the Xbox, Xbox Live, Xbox Music and Xbox Video teams, and Microsoft Studios. Nadella says that doing so has placed Xbox under a strong leader who will "bring more of the magic of Xbox to all form factors, including tablets, PCs and phones."
Spencer commented on the news with a post on the Xbox Wire saying:
"This past year has been a growth experience both for me and for the entire Xbox team. We’ve taken feedback, made our products better and renewed our focus on what is most important, our customer. 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.
"You will hear much more as we head into E3, but we are at the beginning of an incredible new chapter for Xbox and I can’t wait for the days and years ahead. This is going to be fun."
Microsoft has yet to reveal new sales figures for the Xbox One since January when they announced console shipments of 3.9 million and sales of three million by the end of 2013. Sales of the PlayStation 4 meanwhile, are over six million as of the beginning of March with some reports suggesting Sony has now sold seven million systems since November thanks to inFamous: Second Son's release but this has yet to be officially confirmed.
