Xbox Head Admits To Playing Games During Meetings

It turns out that even Phil Spencer has to balance work and gaming, as the Xbox head executive admits to firing up his Series S in between Zoom meetings. As with the rest of the entertainment industry, Spencer’s company had a challenging year in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic made marketing difficult ahead of the launch of the Xbox Series X in November.

Nonetheless, Phil Spencer seemed to keep a level head throughout the long months leading up to the Xbox Series X’s debut, making several noteworthy public appearances and interviews throughout 2020. During this time, he spoke fondly of the Series X’s astonishing graphical capabilities and social features, remained confident that his company will win out in the long run against the PlayStation 5, and even weighed in on which old franchises he would like to see make a comeback in the new generation of gaming. Fans have been wondering how he’s managed to remain so calm in the face of the global lockdowns and possible economic upheaval brought on by the coronavirus, and now it looks like his secret is the same as anyone else’s: playing video games.

Phil Spencer admitted to playing his Xbox Series S during work hours in a podcast with Xbox Live’s Major Nelson yesterday. He went on to explain how he kept his console hooked up to a second HDMI port in his office, switching between whatever game he was playing and his Zoom feed between meetings. Spencer remained mum on exactly which titles he enjoyed during business hours, but he playfully urged anyone listening in on the podcast not to tell his boss, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, what he’s been doing over the past few months.

Phil Spencer’s words track with earlier rumors that he had already tried out the Xbox Series X (then known only as “Project Scarlet”) and its first wave of games as far back as 2019. Meanwhile, Xbox has a busy year ahead of it in 2021, with the Series X kicking into high gear thanks to several highly-anticipated games like Halo Infinite finally seeing release in the new year. Additionally, it is said that Microsoft will finalize its landmark purchase of Bethesda Game Studios sometime in the coming months, which will bring major franchises like DOOM and Fallout under the Xbox umbrella.

While playing video games during company hours isn’t exactly advisable, hearing about a high-level executive like Xbox’s Phil Spencer passing the time with a few quick gaming sessions between meetings is a funny antidote and quite impressive given the landmark business deals his company was making in 2020. However, thanks to both those deals and the Xbox Series X going full steam in the new year, he might not have as much time to kick back with a game or two in 2021.

Source: YouTube

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J. Brodie Shirey
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J. Brodie Shirey is just a simple man trying to make his way in the universe, but aren’t we all? He currently lives in York, Pennsylvania. He is a big comic book, video game, and science fiction fan, and likes writing articles for ScreenRant or scripts for some of his crazy TV show ideas.

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