PHIL SPENCER (Blazer & T-Shirt Guy) is the new HEAD OF XBOX

Phil Spencer: Mostly known to me as the Blazer & T-Shirt Guy from his various presentations. Now I’m going to know the lad by another appellation: Head of XBOX. I don’t really know how to feel. Microsoft has spent the last year peeling off restrictions from their console, getting outsold by the PS4, and making me fucking pay for an adapter to use my existing headset. Is Spencer behind any of this? Will he alleviate some of this douchery now that he’s in control? I wonder. As an owner of the XBONER, I’m hoping he does a fantastic job.

Phil Spencer, former VP of Microsoft Studios, is now head of Microsoft’s Xbox division, overseeing Xbox, Xbox Live and Microsoft Studios teams. Spencer reports to Software EVP Terry Myerson.

“In this new job, Phil will lead the Xbox, Xbox Live, Xbox Music and Xbox Video teams, and Microsoft Studios,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella writes in an email to employees. “Combining all our software, gaming and content assets across the Xbox team under a single leader and aligning with the OSG team will help ensure we continue to do great work across the Xbox business, and bring more of the magic of Xbox to all form factors, including tablets, PCs and phones.”

In February, Microsoft appointed former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop as the head of its Devices and Services division, which included Xbox. Elop is now officially EVP, Microsoft Devices Group, reporting directly to Nadella.

Former Xbox Chief Product Officer Marc Whitten left Microsoft in mid-March for a similar gig with Sonos, a home audio company. [Joystiq]