Phil Spencer, the man behind the shift in Xbox over the past generation is now celebrating having been the head of the company for the past seven years.
As we all know, the beginning of the Xbox One era was a dark time for the company, and many fans were beginning to question their loyalty to the console. It all seemed as though the cards were stacked against Xbox, and any lesser company would have easily thrown in the towel, but Spencer and his team stuck with it, bringing it back into the glory days we have now.
Since then we've had the implementation of backwards compatibility, cloud gaming, and let's not forget the superb Xbox Game Pass. Sure, some of the decisions don't always land, but we'd be lying if we said Xbox isn't in a very strong position today, and a large part of that is due to Spencer's leadership and genuine passion for the industry.
Responding to a fan on Twitter, Spencer said that he "couldn't be more proud of the team; what they've learned and accomplished over the years", later adding that he "really do[es] appreciate all the positive energy."
With the launch of the Xbox Series X|S, the buyout of Bethesda, and the multiple first-party games in the works, we have a bright future ahead with Spencer at the helm. Here's hoping he's still the boss in another seven years' time!
Happy with the direction Xbox has taken with Phil Spencer behind the wheel? Drop us a comment and let us know.
[source twitter.com]
Comments 42
7 years and the guy did a full 180, Nice one Phil Youre the best man Hope you have a very long career with Xbox a head of you, IN Phil we Trust!!!
Looking forward for another 7 years! Made Xbox brand a real competitor. Excited for what the future of what Xbox brand will bring. New studio buyout will be a perfect start.
He is the best thing that has happened to Xbox!
I've got nothing but respect for him. He seems to really get what the gamers want.
He's done a good job
He did do his best to at least try and turn the Xbox One around after Mattrick royally screwed their entire reputation even dating back to the later years of the 360. Because of him the Xbox is even getting more Japanese content in general and a larger first party portfolio. I'm looking forward to how he handles running the businesss for a full console generation
@BlueOcean This! Better than Sony Jim Ryan put it that way, that guy is the Dom Mattrick of PlayStation.
Guys clearly a gamer and that's leading to great changes in the industry. I'm in finance myself so I can tell you you don't want finance to be responsible for running the show in a creative company. Was Don Matric a finance guy? I know Jim Ryan is and you can tell the difference from people who don't use the product they are selling.
Came here only to see some butthurt fangirls voting for the last one.
More POWER to you Phil. 💚
This guy oozes charisma and charm without even trying. He's been tremendous for Xbox and being a gamer himself is the best possible head of Xbox. Actually, I'm downloading Destiny 2 as I'm typing this mostly because I know he's a fan and plays it on a regular basis.
He's done an amazing job, he quite couldn't get the xbox one to the days of the 360 but that was the guys fault before him. But this gen he's put xbox back battling at the top again with gamepass and its only going to get better
Wish sony would kick out jim Ryan and bring in someone like Phil, someone with ambition instead of arrogance
@Senua
Funny how you say that but yet no one voted it yet. Maybe youre the fangirl
@Snake_V5 Indeed.
In Phil we trust. That phrase will live forever
@TheFrenchiestFry they are getting more Japanese content but they need exclusive Japanese content like the early 360 days with eternal sonata, blue dragon, tales of vesperia, the last remnant and lost odyssey, that's the only way they are going to break into that Japanese Market properly, for example get the next dragon quest as a timed exclusive and you will see massive improvement
@UltimateOtaku91 I have Lost Odyssey but not played it yet. Is it good? I heard its a rare Xbox 360 gem.
Everyone in these comments seem to have forgot the whole Xbox live gold increase in price
He's brilliant. Plain and simple. I certainly bet the right horse here. No way has the blue team got the dedication and care for the community like we have.
@Snake_V5 yeah I found it really good, I played it when it first came out so it was one of the best at its time, nice graphics and turn based battles with a decent story, takes about 40-50 hours to complete
@TrueAssassin86x You sure about that now? 😂
Looks like these haters will never learn. 🤮🦄
@Would_you_kindly
Nope. Everyone pretty much expects it to go up in price at some point. Same with Game Pass. I'd pay twice as much for GP and still think it's a good deal, so there's that.
It cannot be stated enough that Phil Spencer is the best thing that has happened to Xbox. While the brand has overall been successful since the early 2000s, Spencer is taking it to even greater heights now. You can tell that Microsoft has been fairly modest in supporting this division up until Spencer took over because there hasn't been someone yet who truly understood the gaming market. I mean, Nadella was questioning whether it was worth keeping Xbox going or not after the 2013 fiasco but Spencer managed to convince him otherwise and even persuaded him to invest even more in the brand through studio acquisitions thanks to Game Pass. Just look at how many studios Microsoft owned before Spencer took over and compare it to now. It's just insane how much he has managed to turn things around for Xbox. Not to mention how he managed to predict coming changes in the gaming market by establishing Game Pass as a very early response to other potential competitors, such as Google and Amazon. It's absolutely clear to me that Spencer fully understands the business side of the gaming market as well as the consumer side of it. He's the leader that Xbox has needed ever since Microsoft entered the gaming market and is basically the quintessential leader that one should wish for in any company.
@Senua NintendoLife and Pushsqaure have the same kind of polls every now and then and there's always people voting for the last option. But has it ever occurred to you that an actual xbox fan voted for that option? Or does anyone who voted for that option automatically make them a "pony"
@gollumb82 if everyone expects it to go up in price then why did they backtrack straight away & apologise once people complained
@UltimateOtaku91 Well it’s obvious that not all polls are the same. Some vote on the last option for their hidden agenda while other polls totally deserve them.
@Senua Almost nobody on an Xbox fansite DOESN'T have a bias for Phil Spencer
You're going to be disappointed when that 2% doesn't increase
@Would_you_kindly pretty sure that was a call that not one of the "faces" of xbox supported. Phil, major Nelson and Roland all weren't happy with it (pretty sure Nelson found out during his podcast as well less than pleased) and all congratulated the fix immediately. It was a dirty move and was correctly criticized and reversed.
@TheFrenchiestFry
1. It’s not a specific site for Xbox as they allow SSO on all the 3-4 fansites.
2. Why are we talking about some numbers here? It’s not even about that. “Almost”, “2%” - these numbers are still significant enough.
Would love to see Phil at playstation at some point to see what he can achieve there.
@Would_you_kindly
I meant everyone expects it now. They apologised because they tried to introduce it in a sneaky way. I'll admit it was in ill-advised decision but at least they backtracked on it.
@Krzzystuff you're telling me you believe that the people in the high up positions at Xbox don't make the decisions & have no idea that the decisions are being made
@Would_you_kindly I'm saying whoever released that statement and change doesn't have the ability to do that anymore. It was a dumb move to make and you can't actually believe that they would have made that announcement after all the work they out in to fixing the company image? Go watch the Major Nelson podcast. This would have been a move that Mattrick would have done but no way that Phil and co. gave that the green light.
Phil Spencer has done an incredible job with Xbox..
@UltimateOtaku91 I’m inclined to agree with @SegataSanshiro only because timed exclusivity is what happens these days and even if it didn’t a handful of games isn’t going to motivate people. That said I’d love to see MS work with a Japanese Dev to do a spin off of one of their properties. Gear Tactics is a good example of what I mean
I think you’d have to be an idiot not to see the strides that Phil made for Xbox. I don’t think he’s my friend or some weird fan girl mentality but having a person who’s been not a dev and a gamer makes difference for a gaming company. Know the business and the audience that simple. Xbox would be dead if not for Phil.
Any news or updates on the xbox-mini?
One of the best decisions in Xbox’s history for Microsoft was putting Phil in charge.
Phil 'Anaconda' Spencer.
Seeing far too much sensitivity about a poll...standard.
Phil has been a game changer for the brand. They had a lot of work to do to repair some bad PR after the Xbox One launch. Was a genius move putting him charge done a cracking job and now the brand is fighting on all cylinders again.
Nice to see the regular clown is back in this comment section 😂 further cementing his reign as top troll.
Phil has done an excellent job. The brand is unrecognisable to the short lived Mattrick era.
Phil has done an amazing job with the Xbox brand, even as someone who mainly plays on PS it can't be denied!! Look forward to see where he takes the ship next!
@LtSarge
Well stated, Phil has simply been astounding in what he has done. I never thought Xbox would be turned around to such a degree after Don Mattrick and co destroyed the momentum that had been gained in the 360 era. More power to him!
What a turn around! Well done Phil and Co.
Here's to the next 7 years and beyond.
Exciting times ahead.
Great guy, hope he visits this site 😂
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