Phil Spencer Wants to Make Sure Motivated Teams Work on IPs They’re Passionate About

CEO Phil Spencer was recently part of the official Xbox Podcast, where he discussed Microsoft’s successful $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Throughout the video, he went into detail about the numerous IPs Microsoft now has ownership of.

Spencer emphasized that he wants to ensure that teams work on the IPs they’re passionate about rather than solely pursuing financial gain or PR. He finds the sheer quantity of their collective ownership “inspiring” and “daunting,” necessitating them to be a “great custodian” for the content they decide to focus on. Spencer intends to interact with these teams directly to make this potential reality as realistic as possible.

Interestingly, Spencer thinks they have only done an “okay’ job with revisiting their franchises, not an “A+.” So, there’s work to be done in that regard. If a team has something they genuinely want to work on, there’s a fair chance they’ll be able to do it. This philosophy also doesn’t strictly apply to Activision Blizzard, as the entirety of Xbox is seemingly included in this idea.

While not explicitly said, you can assume that this is a luxury that Microsoft can only really afford since its portfolio of owned IPs is absolutely overwhelming.

You can view the timestamped segment of the broadcast where Phil Spencer discussed this topic below: