Xbox Is Not Microsoft’s “Garage Band” Anymore, Says Phil Spencer

Xbox has been for quite a while a sort of stranger in his own house, with Microsoft constantly busy thinking at something else or even rumors around a possible sale of the entire division. During the last couple years, though, things have changed a lot.

Xbox has been for quite a while a sort of stranger in his own house, with Microsoft constantly busy thinking at something else or even rumors around a possible sale of the entire division. During the last couple years, though, things have changed a lot.

As shared by Phil Spencer during a recent interview with CNET, the company is now much more involved in the project and doesn’t treat Xbox as the “garage band” anymore. It has “internalized” gaming and results are starting to pop up.

“The company in almost all the things we do was an enterprise company. We’ve had a couple consumer businesses — gaming is one that Bill started, to his credit. He and Steve originally greenlit Xbox project,” he said, with Bill being Microsoft’s founder Bill Gates. (via)

“The analogy I use with some people is we were like the garage band for a long time. As long as we didn’t play our music too loud, we’re allowed to keep practicing.”

“And now we’ve moved more into the mainstream. But for that time, when we were the garage band, Bill and Steve were — as long as we’re not messing things up and we continue to make progress, things were good. Bill’s been incredibly involved in what we’re doing and I still see Steve every so often. He asks how Xbox is doing and how things are going”, he told CNET, also discussing his relationship with the second CEO at the company, Steve Ballmer.

“And like I said, with Satya leaning in in this area and being incredibly supportive, it’s an awesome opportunity for us. The vote of confidence that came from the Senior Leadership Team — that gaming is going to be one of the top words in the company — the team really internalize that,” Spencer added about the current situation and how he deals with Satya Nadella, current CEO at Microsoft.

With Microsoft Studios acquiring five new software houses and investing on game streaming, AI and a next gen console family, it’s clear that the platform holder is now going all in with gaming. Hopefully results will show up around the beginning of the next generation.