Read Microsoft Gaming CEO’s email to staff about the Activision Blizzard acquisition

theverge.com:

As part of Microsoft’s plan to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, the software giant has created a Microsoft Gaming division. Phil Spencer, former head of Xbox, will now lead this team as it focuses on gaming across Xbox, PC, mobile, and the cloud. It’s a big promotion for Spencer, described as the Xboss by Xbox fans.

Spencer originally took over as the head of Microsoft’s Xbox division in 2014, reporting to former Windows chief Terry Myerson. In a sign of how gaming has changed at Microsoft under Spencer, he quickly moved into Microsoft’s senior leadership team in 2017, reporting directly to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella as the corporate vice president of gaming. After more than 30 years at the company, Spencer is now CEO of Microsoft Gaming, as it looks to tackle mobile gaming, the metaverse, and cloud gaming with more than 20 game studios.

Microsoft is now willing to spend billions on acquisitions to bolster its gaming efforts after acquiring Bethesda last year for $7.5 billion. Activision Blizzard won’t be a particularly easy acquisition for Microsoft, though. The troubled company has been struggling to address concerns from employees over a myriad of sexual misconduct allegations. Spencer and his Microsoft Gaming team will certainly have a lot of work to do to ensure the culture inside Activision Blizzard is addressed.

Here’s what Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer had to say about his new role and the company’s gaming efforts in an email to staff today:

Welcome back from the holidays. To start, I’d like to thank everyone for all of the hard work and dedication that have built this business and this community. Obviously, today’s agreement to acquire Activision Blizzard is incredibly exciting. In fact it’s a