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Microsoft’s competitor to Sony’s Playstation, the Xbox, has become an indispensable part of the tech industry. Now Xbox boss Phil Spencer recently explained in an interview why the division had to be bailed out from 2014 and what role he played in it.
• No team leaders and no CEOs: chaos at Microsoft
• Spencer can convince Nadella that the Xbox division is valuable
• Today the Xbox is one of the most popular consoles in the world
A few months after the launch of Xbox One Microsoft almost had to cut the entire division and leave the gaming console market to Sony. In an interview with Shacknews, current Xbox boss Phil Spencer talks about the company’s internal uncertainties that made it harder to work on Xbox in 2013 and 2014.
Xbox president Don Mattrick resigns
One of the company’s internal insecurities was the resignation of then-Xbox boss Don Mattrick. According to Spencer, when the Xbox team received negative reactions after the console was unveiled at the E3 game show, it had no leader and was spread across the company. There was Marc Whitten’s platform team, Spencer’s first party games team in another department of the company, and a separate marketing team, which made launching incredibly difficult.
“We have it [trotzdem] and Xbox One launched around the clock, “Spencer told Shacknews. Xbox One launched in November 2013.
Change CEO: new head of Microsoft Satya Nadella
Furthermore, changes in the management level at Microsoft made things more difficult: while the Xbox division was unmanaged, the position of CEO of Microsoft had to be filled again. As Steve Ballmer’s successor, current CEO Satya Nadella has taken over the management of the company. In view of stiff Xbox competition from Sony’s Playstation in 2014, Nadella had to check if the entertainment division was worth enough to keep it alive. Spencer managed to convince him, as he explained in an interview: “[Satya] and I had a discussion and […] I said, “You know, gaming can be a really important customer line for the company.” He didn’t quite understand it […]because he hadn’t had much to do with it before. But he was ready to count on us and our team. ”
Spencer rebuilds the Xbox team
Mainly because there were no other responsible people available, Spencer came to the place of Xbox boss: “We make as many decisions as possible in the interest of our players” was the team’s motto, which has since worked most closely together says Spencer.
According to Statista, Xbox consoles are among the best-selling consoles in the world and thus contribute significantly to Microsoft’s business value. Their market value is approximately US $ 1.62 trillion (as of November 25, 2020).
Olga Rogler / funding.ch publishers
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