Phil Spencer

Starfield was one of the best-performing games on Steam this year, alongside Baldur's Gate 3, Destiny 2, Sons of the Forest, and more. This is despite its mixed reception among general players, so much so that the game has slipped into "mostly negative" reviews on Steam.

The CEO of Activision Blizzard, Bobby Kotick, is officially stepping down from his role later this month, it’s been confirmed. 

Activision Blizzard boss Robert Kotick is stepping down as CEO.

With the year coming to a close, Bethesda Game Studios has announced that the space-faring RPG Starfield has topped 13 million players. This is just a few weeks after Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer revealed over 12 million players across all platforms.

Microsoft announced that Activision Blizzard CEO is finally stepping down, effective December 29. He is not the only high-profile departure, though Microsoft intends to leave most of the company’s management in place.  

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It’s official: The Bobby Kotick era at Activision Blizzard will end on December 29. According to The Verge, Instead of appointing a new replacement, the top Activision Blizzard executives will now report to Microsoft’s game content and studios president Matt Booty. Several more higher-level Activision Blizzard employees will also leave the company in the new year with departures planned through March 2024.

After a 32-year career, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick is officially stepping down next week, with his last day at the company being Friday, December 29. Meanwhile, Microsoft has announced a series of key leadership changes as it works to bring Activision Blizzard into Xbox's fold.

Microsoft has announced that Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard, will be stepping down on December 29th. Instead of a replacement, Blizzard president Mike Ybarra and Activision publishing president Rob Kostich will report to Microsoft Gaming game content and studios president Matt Booty, per The Verge. Activision Blizzard vice chair Thomas Tippl is also leaving in March 2024 but reports to Booty till then.

It is now official: In a farewell message to employees, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick has confirmed that he will be leaving the company.

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It was massive news when Microsoft revealed that they had put out a bid to acquire Activision Blizzard. Billions of dollars went into this purchase, and it was anything but easy. There were court cases and battles against the regulators to ensure that this deal would go through. Fortunately for Microsoft, the deal was finalized earlier this year. Since then, we’ve seen Microsoft go into a transitional phase to ensure production could continue while Microsoft took over the reins. Meanwhile, it was noted that Bobby Kotick, the CEO of Activision Blizzard, would continue staying on until the upcoming year.

Controversial Activision Blizzard boss Bobby Kotick will depart the company on 29th December, it's been announced.

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick will leave the company on December 29 after 32 years, and remaining Activision Blizzard executives such as Blizzard Entertainment president Mike Ybarra, Activision Publishing president Rob Kostich, and Activision Blizzard vice chairman Thomas Tippl will be overseen by Microsoft Gaming game content and studios president Matt Booty.

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick is officially resigning from the company after the completion of Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition of the gaming developer and publisher. Kotick’s last day is Dec. 29, when Microsoft studio head Matt Booty will take lead of the Activision Blizzard executive leadership team. Kotick led Activision Blizzard for 32 years.

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick will officially leave the company on December 29, it’s been confirmed.

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick has announced he’s stepping down from his position on December 29. The news comes two months after Microsoft officially completed its acquisition of the developer/publisher. 

In what looks like its last Starfield post for the year, Bethesda's committed to big changes for the RPG in 2024, revisiting promised quality-of-life features and doubling down on new gameplay options ahead of the RPG's first confirmed expansion, Shattered Space. 

Bobby Kotick has confirmed that he'll be stepping down as CEO of Activision-Blizzard-King on December 29, with no direct replacement planned to take his place.

Perhaps the most controversial executive in the history of the video game industry is stepping down by the end of the year. Activision CEO Bobby Kotick has long been a divisive figure for his aggressive and abrasive style, but his image took an even worse beating when he was personally implicated in the workplace misconduct allegations that roiled Acti-Blizz back in 2021. Despite that, he hung on, negotiating the $69 billion sale of Activision Blizzard to Microsoft. Throughout the process Microsoft and Xbox boss Phil Spencer have remained mum on what Kotick’s fate may be once the sale was completed.

By Tom Warrenand Ash Parrish

Following the devastating cyber security attack that targeted Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 developer Insomniac Games, leaked slides have revealed Sony’s internal concern at competitor Microsoft’s emerging strategy following its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

Marvel’s Blade was announced during The Game Awards earlier this week, a massive budget third-person action game set in a reimagined Paris. Development, however, is being handled by Microsoft studio Arkane Lyon – the team formerly behind titles like Dishonored and one-time PS5 console exclusive Deathloop.

The Xbox Cloud Gaming beta app has launched on Meta Quest VR headsets, meaning those with an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription can access its library of games.

[UPDATE] Bethesda Game Studios has now responded to the Starfield update 1.8.88 thread on Reddit to reveal plenty of details on the game's patch roadmap for next year.

Costco is currently offering one of the cheapest Xbox Series S deals to date.

Xbox players can now see how many hours they've put into their favorite games this year, including Phil Spencer, who is in the top 10% of Starfield players. 

Microsoft’s high-profile legal battle with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over the fate of its $69 billion buyout of Activision Blizzard unearthed a number of explosive revelations, among them the fact Microsoft renegotiated ZeniMax's deal with Disney to make Bethesda's upcoming Indiana Jones game exclusive to Xbox and PC, thus ditching the PlayStation 5 version.

Microsoft is reportedly planning to offer free game streaming in exchange for advertisements. As per TweakTown, Xbox Gaming CFO Tim Stuart suggested during the recent Wells Fargo TMT Summit that to expand geographically, it would be ideal to leverage the company's xCloud service, allowing players to cloud stream games at any ‘endpoint' via a simple Game Pass Ultimate subscription. He further added, “For models like Africa, or India, Southeast Asia, maybe places that aren't console-first, you can say, ‘Hey, do you want to watch 30 seconds of an ad and then get two hours of game streaming?'”

Xbox boss Phil Spencer has shared his Diablo 4 character after hitting level 100 during Season 2.

An issue on Xbox causing saves to disappear has now been fixed.

Bethesda's RPG has received a minor update that should get rid of interstellar stowaways.

The modding team behind Skyrim Together has announced it is canceling work on a Starfield multiplayer mode.

Baldur’s Gate 3 had a huge night at The Game Awards 2023, winning Game of the Year and then just launching the game on Xbox Series X|S. Surprise!

We could have got a large-scale Starfield co-op mod from the team behind Skyrim Together, but there’s just one issue: The modder who started work on the project thinks the space-faring RPG is “fucking trash.” 

Baldur’s Gate 3 had a huge night at The Game Awards 2023, winning Game of the Year and then just launching the game on Xbox Series X|S. Surprise!

The long-awaited and highly anticipated Xbox Series X/S port of has finally released, coming as a surprise reveal following The Game Awards 2023. Delayed due to development issues, 's Xbox release window had remained nebulous, with developer and publisher Larian Studios aiming to get it out before the end of the year. Those still waiting to jump into the smash hit CRPG on Xbox are in luck, however, as the game is available now.

After stumbling badly with the co-op shooter Redfall, Arkane Studios is trying its luck with yet another vampire game. This one looks to be quite a bit different, though: It's a new take on Marvel's Blade, which was revealed tonight in a surprise announcement at The Game Awards.

Xbox Series X|S maker Microsoft has once again expressed a desire to release its membership service Game Pass on to PS5, PS4, allowing first-party titles like Starfield and Forza Motorsport to become available to a wider audience. Xbox CFO Tim Stuart made the comments during the Wells Fargo TMT Summit, stating it to be a «bit of a change of strategy».

Yesterday, Xbox CFO Tim Stuart said Microsoft wants Xbox Game Pass on «every screen that can play games», including «what we would have thought of as competitors in the past like PlayStation and Nintendo». One day later, Xbox boss Phil Spencer told Windows Central: «We have no plans to bring Game Pass to PlayStation or Nintendo. It's not in our plans.»

Skyrim mods made available on the game's new Creations platform will not be allowed to contain any content produced through generative AI.

Microsoft has reportedly been developing an Xbox mobile storefront that would allow users to bypass Apple's App Store and Google's Play Store and download games off its own application. Earlier this year, Microsoft's gaming chief Phil Spencer, too, had revealed ahead of the annual Game Developer Conference that the company intended to launch its own app store for both iOS and Android. Now, Xbox is reportedly in talks with partners for the same.

Xbox boss Phil Spencer hopes Starfield can be like Skyrim for people who love space and space exploration.

Back in August, Xbox head Phil Spencer claimed that there's no reason why Starfield can't become a game that fans play for the next decade, stating that he believes the spacefaring RPG will have a lifespan as long as Skyrim. Since then, we've seen the game launch, Bethesda itself argue that the game isn't boring, and Starfield become the lowest-rated Bethesda title on Steam in the studio's history. Despite all of that, Spencer's opinion hasn't changed.

Xbox boss Phil Spencer says Microsoft spends over $1 billion a year bringing third-party titles to Xbox Game Pass.

Whether you've been playing it for 200 hours or decided it was boring after 200 minutes, Starfield is nonetheless one of the most important video game releases this year. Since it's Elder Scrolls developer Bethesda's first new IP in decades, the intergalactic role-playing game was born wearing giant shoes to fill and debuted to ecstatic, unquenchable fanfare. 

Oh, Phil Spencer, what won’t you say next? We ask this because, true to his nature, he’s been making plenty of bold claims and statements about the future of Xbox, including going backward on things he said not too long ago. But his focus today is on Starfield, which came out a few months back after YEARS of development by Bethesda. While the title rocketed off to a hot start, pun intended, things cooled off quickly once people dove into the game and learned more about it. But at the CCXP show in Brazil, as noted by PCGamesN, Spencer was there to say that he felt the game could have the longevity of a certain other Bethesda title.

Xbox boss Phil Spencer has announced that Starfield has now seen over 12 million players.

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Bethesda's ambitious sci-fi RPG Starfield has been played by more than 12 million people since its release.

At the 2023 Comic Con Experience in São Paulo, Microsoft CEO Phil Spencer fielded questions about Xbox and its latest titles while revealing some interesting information about the current state of the gaming industry.

Xbox boss Phil Spencer has revealed how much its Xbox Game Pass subscription service is costing the company, and it's a pretty penny, to say the least.

It’s been a tough few years for fans of the historic platformer series Banjo-Kazooie, but Xbox head Phil Spencer has now acknowledged that he's aware of the demand for a new installment. 

This week is the week of The Games Awards, aka Geoffest, aka the Ke3ghleys - an absolute banquet of trailers, release dates and game announcements for the Maw. There are a few reveals in the offing. Some, we already know about, and may even have written up in advance; others, we'll learn about together with your good selves when the livestream begins at 4.30pm Los Angeles time on 7th December, which equates to 12.30am on 8th December (ouch) in the UK. There's the trifling matter of the first GTA 6 trailer on 5th December, too.

Xbox boss Phil Spencer has clarified Game Pass will not be coming to PlayStation or Nintendo Switch.

12 million people have played the spacefaring Starfield, just three months after takeoff. 

Xbox spends «over a billion dollars a year» on its Xbox Game Pass subscription service.

Microsoft has made no secret of the fact that it intends to greatly expand its presence in the mobile gaming space, which, in fact, was even one of the critical factors that led to the company’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard. To that end, an Xbox mobile store is something that has been in the works for a while now, and it seems those plans are continuing to accelerate.

Microsoft games boss Phil Spencer has acknowledged the calls for a new Banjo-Kazooie title, saying, "Banjo fans, I hear you". While this is far from confirmation that a new game is in the works, it implies that the series is still being kept in mind and that Xbox knows fans would love a new game after all these years.

With Game Pass being as central to Xbox’s strategy as it has become over the years, it goes without saying that Microsoft has pumped a massive amount of money into the service, especially given how many third party titles the service features in its catalog (many of which launch day and date). How much money exactly, though?

Microsoft has a packed release schedule in place for 2024 where its first party releases are concerned, but among those games, the one that has generated the most excitement is Ninja Theory’s long anticipated Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2. In June, the company announced that the action-adventure title would be releasing sometime in 2024, and though a specific release date has yet to be announced, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer has suggested the wait for it won’t be much longer now.

There’s been a lot of talk in recent days and weeks about whether Starfield has got the sort of critical reception it deserves, but regardless of where you stand on that, where pure numbers are concerned, Bethesda Game Studios’ space RPG seems to be doing well for itself.

Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer has backed the company's decision to Xbox price hike in Brazil, claiming that it was necessary to uphold business in the region.

In an exclusive interview with Windows Central Managing Editor Jez Corden, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer discussed the future of Activision Blizzard, reviving dormant franchises, and tapping into nostalgic IP. Windows Central Interview with Phil Spencer While the Activision-Blizzard portions have been summarized below, we highly recommend reading the full article, which covers much more discussion with the head of Xbox; such as plans for Game Pass on other consoles, discussing Xbox Cloud Gaming, and the future of PC games streaming.

Microsoft’s head of gaming has acknowledged the demand from fans for a new Banjo-Kazooie game.

Despite indications and rumours that Xbox might be keen on expanding its Game Pass offerings to also be available on PlayStation and Nintendo platforms, Microsoft Gaming boss Phil Spencer has revealed that the company doesn’t have any current plans to do it.

Xbox might be working on bringing new features and improvements to its Achievements system. In an interview with Windows Central, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer talks about bringing improvements to the system, which has been largely the same since its original introduction all the way back with the launch of the Xbox 360.

Over the past few years, there have been scattered hints Microsoft would like to bring their Xbox Game Pass service to rival consoles like the PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch. Talk about this heated up in a major way recently, when Xbox CFO Tim Stuart said they want to get Game Pass on “every screen that will play games,” including PlayStation and Nintendo consoles. Juicy!

to compete with Google Play and The App Store. Phil Spencer briefly discussed Microsoft’s plans during a recent interview in São Paulo. He did not go into specifics but indicated that the new storefront isn’t too far in the future.

It might have surprised some fans when they saw the comments made by Tim Stuart, the Xbox CFO. If you don’t recall, it was just a couple of days ago now that reports flooded in that Tim stated that Xbox would like to see Game Pass on competitor platforms such as Nintendo and PlayStation. This might have sparked speculation that Microsoft was actively working on a plan to get Game Pass on some of these rival platforms. However, don’t get too excited, as Phil Spencer is looking to clear the air.

Regarding Phil Spencer, he’s been saying quite a bit about Xbox recently and what Microsoft plans to do with it and some of its programs. For example, he noted that he’s looking for some developers to help with Microsoft’s mobile store. That’s something that many developers have been looking at recently, including SEGA and Atlus. Another thing he talked about was the Xbox Game Pass and whether it may come to other consoles in the future. At present, it’s not. But in a special interview with Windows Central, he also talked about the big acquisition of Activision Blizzard and what it could mean going forward.

The store could come earlier than later.

Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer says Microsoft is talking to partners about launching an Xbox mobile store, as first reported by Bloomberg. Spencer made the comment during an interview at the CCXP comics and entertainment convention in Brazil on Thursday.

Considered by many to be more than worth the monthly cost, Xbox Game Pass is the front-runner in gaming’s fast lean towards subscription-based services. On top of Microsoft CEO Phil Spencer expressing interest in an Xbox mobile gaming store, the company’s Chief Financial Officer is now keen on bringing Game Pass to… well, just about everything.

Activision Blizzard planned to open its own mobile game store before being acquired by Microsoft, court documents from the Epic Games and Google antitrust jury trial show.

Microsoft’s gaming division is seeking continued growth, and to do that, it is eyeing the mobile gaming market. As Bloomberg reports, Xbox is talking with partners to create a mobile gaming store.

Phil Spencer has confirmed that Microsoft’s gaming division is already looking for partners to join their mobile store.

Phil Spencer, Microsoft Gaming CEO, has revealed that Xbox is currently in talks with partners to explore the idea of launching its own mobile gaming store to make the company “strong across many screens.”

Xbox is in discussions with partners about launching a new mobile game store, Microsoft’s head of gaming Phil Spencer has confirmed.

Xbox is working with unknown partners to open a mobile storefront to rival the App Store and Google Play.