Phil Harrison the long tenured vice president of Xbox in Europe has elected to depart from Microsoft in search of new ventures. Harrison initially joined the senior Xbox team back in 2012 and had spoke of his excitement for the long-term picture with the company. However, it seems the lack of movement up the corporate chain may have influenced his decision to leave the gaming juggernaut.
Before his time with Microsoft, Harrison worked with Xbox’s rival company, Sony. It is not clear whether Harrison will stay involved with one of the major gaming companies or if he will move to an entirely different realm of work.
Both Harrison and head of Xbox, Phil Spencer spoke with gamesindustry.biz regarding their thoughts on the news.
“Phil has been a distinguished leader for our European Xbox team – overseeing production at our award-winning European studios and making a substantial contribution to the Xbox business globally. I want to thank Phil for his creativity and leadership over the past three years. Phil is a great friend of mine and I wish him the very best with his future endeavours.” – Phil Spencer (GamesIndustry)
Phil Spencer had taken the lead role of Xbox after the departure of Don Mattrick in 2013 while Harrison continued his work in Europe to expand the company’s presence within the market. Though the Xbox has been afforded respectable success in the United States, the console has been overshadowed for the most part by Sony’s PlayStation 4 console in other markets. Despite the underwhelming achievements that Xbox has had in Europe, Harrison still says that he’s very much enjoyed his time with the company.
“I have enjoyed the last three years at Microsoft enormously and it has been a privilege to lead and work along side the incredible talent within Microsoft Studios in Europe, including Rare, Lionhead, Lift, Soho and Press Play. I wish them and my many friends throughout the Xbox world every continued success and know that games will continue to prosper across Microsoft under Phil Spencer’s leadership.” – Phil Harrison