Original Xbox Creator “Strongly Believes” In Phil Spencer, Amid Reports Of Activision Blizzard Acquisition

Microsoft is propos­ing to buy Activi­sion Bliz­zard for close to $70 bil­lion, mak­ing it the largest gam­ing acqui­si­tion in his­to­ry, and news is spread­ing fast through­out the indus­try. Sea­mus Black­ley, the design­er of the orig­i­nal Xbox, has decid­ed to voice his thoughts on this buyout.

On his Twit­ter account, Black­e­ly said, “I strong­ly believe in [Phil Spencer] as a leader and an exec­u­tive.” He went on fur­ther, prais­ing the deci­sion for it being “very insight­ful,” as well as how much of “a huge win for Xbox” this acqui­si­tion was. 

Black­e­ly also men­tioned how the news “sick­ened” him, due to its con­nec­tion to the ongo­ing prob­lems with Activi­sion Bliz­zard’s work­place cul­ture. Those who spent year per­pet­u­at­ing these “despi­ca­ble prac­tices” at the com­pa­ny are now sit­ting ready to grab a rather large pay­out, Black­e­ly said.

Despite this, he obvi­ous­ly believes this is still a pos­i­tive move for­ward. “There are daunt­ing chal­lenges in all large acqui­si­tions I just see the issues of devel­op­er cul­ture as being para­mount here, before all else,” he said.

Black­ley went on to share a sto­ry of when he went to Activi­sion to pitch the orig­i­nal Xbox, only to be “essen­tial­ly mocked,” and how “weird” it is to see “lit­tle baby Xbox eat up Activision.” 

I strong­ly believe in @XboxP3 as a leader and an exec­u­tive. I think this is a very insight­ful move and could rep­re­sent a huge win for Xbox. There are daunt­ing chal­lenges in all large acqui­si­tions I just see the issues of devel­op­er cul­ture as being para­mount here, before all else.

— Sea­mus Black­ley (@SeamusBlackley) Jan­u­ary 18, 2022

If Microsoft­’s bid for Activi­sion Bliz­zard is approved, it appears that Bob­by Kotick may be leav­ing the com­pa­ny once the deal is final­ized, but he’ll stay CEO until then.