Julie Larson-Green confirmed as Don Mattrick's replacement as head of Xbox

Major corporate reshuffle sees Microsoft's IEB replaced by new Devices and Studios Engineering Group.

[allformats]

I have no problem with women heading companies because women are awesome. I have a problem with this because Mrs. Larsen is NOT a gamer...

... And it should always be a gamer heading the Xbox division. Just like Tretton of PlayStation, along with Cerny and Yoshida. They are all gamers.

This is disconcerting.

[Dno]

dude, you do not have to state the "I love women in high places" crap we understand this has nothing to do with sex this is a bad hire for gamers man or women.

Hopefully time will tell.

[allformats]

@Dno. Yeah, but you know how some people are, quick to accuse. But yeah, you're right. I cannot see how this helps Xbox.

[papashango]

but dem botox lips

clearly the best person for the job.

[JohnnyBadfinger]

Great... Now their will be apps dedicated to baking and knitting...
God damn it MS!
I really want the Xbox one but your making it so hard for me to make the leap!
Sony haven't tempted me enough to jump ship but I swear your making me walk the plank....

[malokevi]

I don't think its a bad decision. After all, nobody liked Don.

A women may be at the head, but that isn't where most of the decision making gets done. You can bet your bottom dollar that there are plenty of people at MS working in the Xbox division who are highly skilled and passionate about what they do.

Just another figurehead. Easy on the eyes, too...

[nukeitall]

We don't know if this is good or bad primarily because she has no history.

Understanding gaming, but no business sense isn't good, nor is great business sense, but not understanding gaming.

A good example is Peter Moore, before working at Sega and subsequently MS, he actually worked at Rebook!

No experience with gaming, but a great leader for Xbox!

Remember, I said it first! :D

[abzdine]

Let's hope she can stop the hémorragie they've started. I'm not sure about her knowledge about games like all the others but only time will tell

[sengoku]

this wont change the heading xbox was taking.

they sure had an opportunity to change the heading and give xbox one a much needed boost in the arm by appointing a great leader as the head of the division.

but no, i bet you nothing has changed and this change, the streamlining of divisions was planed months or maybe years ahead of time the bad xbox one launch just gave m$ the opportunity the make the changes earlier that all.

[mewhy32]

Well. I don't see how she could screw it up much worse than it already is. LOL . The first thing that she should do I cut the price to match PS4.

[OC_MurphysLaw]

@Dno " this is a bad hire for gamers man or women.

Hopefully time will tell. "

How about we wait and see what her vision is and here her speak? Maybe let her make some choices before we cast stones?

I for one say, OK...now show me your vision for Xbox and lets see what happens Next. Gamescom is just around the corner, I am sure she will make an appearance.

[dedicatedtogamers]

This is bad news for a couple of reasons:

1) Larson-Green has no professional experience in the game industry, and now she's in charge of Xbox

2) Not only is she in charge of Xbox, but she's in charge of all studios and game-development, too

3) Worse yet, she has a lot of other responsibilities, including all of Microsoft's efforts with Surface, music, video, multimedia, etc. Meaning that her attention will be split between all those things.

4) Unlike before, where the Xbox gaming division had the direct ear of Ballmer (Xbox bosses were always directly under Ballmer), now the Xbox gaming division is going to be buried amid other non-gaming divisions.

Only time will tell, but I'd like to see an instance of when a non-gamer took over a gaming division and it resulted in a better gaming console...

[pixelsword]

She doesn't have to be a gamer; if she has the wisdom to listen to the right gamers and developers, that's all anyone could ask for. There were a bunch of "gamers" and people who worked for other game companies that went belly-up many times before.

Mattrick clearly is interested in games enough to go to another game company and be called a gamer, but look at the debacle that happened under him when he was in charge.

[Darrius Cole]

There is no "Hopefully time will tell". Time will definitely tell.

Right now is a tough time for her to take over the Xbox though. Don Matrick set the Xbone on a self-destructive path and set almost all of the impartial gaming community against the Xbone and then he got fire...er.., and then he left. But now it is probably too late to significantly change the direction of the Xbone.

This woman will have to ride the Xbone through what is probably going to be a very tough generation.

[SilentNegotiator]

"dude, you do not have to state the "I love women in high places" crap we understand this has nothing to do with sex this is a bad hire for gamers man or women"

But it's the 21st century and you need to qualify everything you say so that no one's po' widdle feewings are hurt.

[adorie]

Basically in a nutshell "in before i'm called a sexist"

A bit defensive, but I understand his trying to hold off those types of comments.

[malol]

good good

cant wait till she fucks up the xbox name real good.

[Cryptcuzz]

Maybe its because the direction they want to take with Xbox One is primarily the casual Kinect crowd. With a woman as the head of Xbox now, maybe they are trying to resonate with the mom and kids demographic and focus their sales mainly on the casual customers.

Imagine seeing her on The View, Ellen Show, Oprah etc. chatting to that type of potential customers.

Who knows, maybe she will do a much better job than Mattrick in everyway, but then again, you can only go up from the major fails so far with the Xbox One reveal.

One thing is clear, it is bad to have a non-gamer run the head of a gaming division. Interests and visions will conflict with what a gaming console should be mainly about and result in either more sales from a new demographic, major loss of sales from their core demographic or maybe even both.

[fr0sty]

Don Mattrick's problem is that he was out of touch with the core gamer world. This is why he had such an interest in outfits like Zynga, even attempting to buy them before he went on to chair them. That is what he views as the future of video games. Cheap, family friendly, easy to play mini-games. This is why we saw the Xbox 360 abandon it's core crowd and focus on kinect, and this is what has been woven into the fabric of Xbox One's design as well with the mandatory Kinect integration.

While it's good to see him go, I just can't think even for a minute that this lady is going to do any better. She looks more like a botox-infused version of a middle aged soccer mom. Is that really what we need heading up the division that is supposed to be putting their focus on developing AAA core gamer titles that we all look forward to? I expect to see less and less of a core gamer focus with Xbox One, and more of a Wii-like focus with a cable box duct-taped onto the console. Family friendly games, casual experiences, and lots of sports and TV.

[badz149]

one non-gamer after the other. when will MS learn?

[The_Con-Sept]

I just have 5 words I want to yell from the crowd when she gets on stage for the first time.

"Show us what you got."

[Me-Time]

So you're saying that the "first" gamers and majority of gamers weren't males (and was that way for a LONG time)?

It has nothing to do with sex, yes. You ignored the real reason for that first post of this topic by concentrating on something that was obviously set up for the reason he said he did. You wasted the second spot in this comments section.

[CrossingEden]

stop posting the same bull on every single article, "huuurrrridduurrr, you can't run a company if you aren't a true gamerz, because all the years of school for marketing, business and the hard work to become head of a company means nothing because gamez are evarytang" this is your logic, get a reality check, not everything revolves around games if you're in business, yoshida doesn't go home, prop himself on the couch and play video games and then go to work the next day -_-

[from the beach]

Don't take it too seriously.

In the minds of some people on this forum THEY are real gamers, whereas someone like Don Mattrick - whose entire life is games, starting as a developer then rising to be head of Xbox - is not.

That's the kind of 'logic' we're dealing with..

[Phene]

lol that would be pretty funny if thats what it took to run a gaming company ..you work at a food company, all you do is go home for dinner and its a wrap

[SuperLupe]

Haha funny stuff guys. You're 100% right. You cant win with people that think in a such a way.

[AceBlazer13]

this is just my two cents but being a gamer would help you promote a better product it's not 100% necessary but if you take a strictly business stand point with not knowing of how your market thinks especially with a fickle bunch like "gamers" then you're without a doubt going to mess up.but hey she'll probably have ppl familiar with the market advising her

[BattleTorn]

Yeah, I don't get why people think a gamer must be the head of the department.. As if gaming experience is the most important thing to their job :/

[B-radical]

Agreed i wouldn't mind her doing music and whatnot division but games should of went to someone like major nelson (yes i just said that) Look at his twitter he is passionate about games.

Although she may not have to be a gamer all she has to do is really listen to gamers which don mattrick didnt do till bad coverage ruined the xbox ones start

[AceBlazer13]

Major Nelson would have been a great choice seemed to be the only one actually trying to do something for the xbone

[RedHawkX]

don mattick was responsible for the xbox 360 wasnt he? xbox 360 has a lot of fanboys right and still the fanboys want to buy the xbox one so he did a good job. he wanted to focus on games but the company wouldnt let him and thats why he planned to leave for his new job long ago. people need to think and analyze what happend here. anyone who is getting an xbox one or has z x360 reallly have no right to complain about don because you supported him with your dollars and you dont do that if you think someone sucks.

[No Way]

Pretty sure the xBox 360 was moore like.. Peter Moore.

[DARK WITNESS]

I can't speak for everyone here...

but when I signed up for the 360 it was a result of the ground work set by the original xbox.

as a product it suited me just fine and I was happy to sign up. I personally don't know if Don was behind all that but at the time it was more J allard and Peter More that kind of sold the 360 and where it was headed as a games console.

What I remember about seeing Mattrick at the first E3 I saw him at was charts and data showing units sold and all I could remember was thinking who the F2^k is this sales guy and why is he talking ?

digging into his history it's prob not fair to say he is NOT a real gamer, but he seemed out of touch to me. Ever since his face started showing up it feels like the direction and what I use to love about the xbox has changed.

Maybe that is just coincidence, or maybe the whole thing is his engineering but after being an xbox fan for 2 generations I am switching to the ps4.

Even if for nothing else, sony have shown that they are willing to invest in projects for the long term and new IP's even this late in a generation.

[JBSleek]

And just like Don right he was a gamer...

Relax she hasn't even started yet.

[Jakens]

Never had she had so many male eyes on her before.

Edit: spelling.

[miyamoto]

M$ clearly does not understand what they are doing.

And decision makers has no deep and thorough experience in the history at culture of video games.

Unlike Sony whose people who are in-charge now are the ones who were there at the early age of video games. Kaz hirai, Andrew House, Shu Yoshida, Mark Cerny are there at the early days of video games.

When PlayStation was the underdog against Nintendo, Sega and M$ and even against Sony corp itself.

Kaz Hirai started from scratch and went through lots of stuff in video games. I am glad he is CEo of the whole Sony Corp. Its good for PlayStation.

[JBSleek]

Yep clearly have no idea what they are doing. Lol

Oh the stupidity.

[warewolfSS]

Please. Tell us more about your history in the industry.

[dark-hollow]

You tell em, random guy on an obscure gaming website!

[LOGICWINS]

Why did u even mention anything about her being a woman if her gender isn't important?

[Heavenly King]

Because some people love to be up in arms when someone talks bad things about women or people that is not white; even though the critic has nothing to do with the ethnicity nor sex of the person.

[AceBlazer13]

@HeavennlyKing just kill it.you mention sex your a sexist you don't your a sexist some ppl will just spin it around no matter what you try to do.

[MysticStrummer]

It's a preemptive defense because some people will cry sexism, racism, or some other negative "ism" at the drop of a hat.

[Blaze929]

"I have no problem with women heading companies"

this is where we disagree. The day we have a woman president, I'm out.

[Godmars290]

"The day we have a woman president, I'm out."

To where?

[dark-hollow]

Why? Regardless of what us British people think about her, but Margret Thatcher, the former prime minster of the UK for an example , changed and contributed greatly to the UK. For better or worse, but she's a fine example that woman can lead whole countries as good as men.

[TheGrimReaper0011]

well,
would you rahter have don or julie?

[Groo]

@ dark-hollow

Why? Regardless of what us British people think about her, but Margret Thatcher, the former prime minster of the UK for an example , changed and contributed greatly to the UK. For better or worse, but she's a fine example that woman can lead whole countries as good as men.

I agree with your point, but you obviously know nothing about how Most American Women are.. the American women today are not the strong willed, honest and hard working women that paved the way for the spoiled brats we have today. American women are selfish and devious.. Their only purpose in life is to snag a wealthy man, shop, do nothing and be spoiled.. Thats why a huge number of American women get the surgery to look like Merman and boobs is to get a rich man, period. thats their profession.

They act like they are acomplished and should be respected taking credit for their mans wealth, they want to become pop stars, design clothes etc when in reality all they are doing is spending their rich morons money to pay someone to make clothes then put their name on it and say, "I'm a fashion designer" American society is ok with that and actually encourages women to inspire to become a pro hooker, with all the crap on TV.. why do you thing dorky rich guys end up a hot supermodel wife? Its not because of their looks, personality or manhood, its about their wallet

[dantesparda]

Wow! Groo, I don't know where youre from? But where im from (Boston), the women are tough and don't give a f about a man's money. Although I do agree that most of American society is nothing but a bunch of degenerate

[stubbed_out]

Groo - Dude, calm down before you end up trying to murder one.
You've obviously had quite a few bad encounters, and you know what, a whole load of those women probably are like Succubus, especially the ones you mostly see on TV...(my god they're the worst) but don't for a second EVER think that all women are in it just to be the next big pop idol. I know for a fact there are plenty of American women who are insanely intelligent and care for much greater things other than their image.
Looking through history it's us if anything who have been the biggest a**holes.

The American dream is pretty crummy but don't let it get to you, open your eyes, hell, travel if you have to; you'll find plenty of good hearted lasses around - you might even end up falling in love with one.

[TheGrimReaper0011]

Wow, people!
It was an honest question!
Who would you rather have? Don or Julie?
I didnt mean anything with it -_-

[stubbed_out]

Grim, apologies, all got a bit side tracked there. Tough call; the ship has been sinking for quite a long time now but can't figure out which iceberg is bigger...Don or Julie. Don, background in gaming who I guess really felt passionately about opening up to a less than core audience...Julie, if a less than core gaming audience is where all the money is than isn't she going to be doing pretty much the same thing as Don...looks like a new figurehead to me personally.

Don - he's had the experience of his customers wailing at him, there's a lot he could've learned there rather than head off (or booted) to Zynga. All very debatable though.

[PSjesus]

Exactly talented women like Amy Hennig or Jade Raymond being head of their companies is understandable but someone from another industry or type of software is ridiculous specially Sony and N are running by masters of gaming industry

[CRAIG667]

How do you know she isn't a a gamer, you have AMAZING insights!

[PSjesus]

gamer isn't a specialty or achievement putting it in your CV well make you a head of Xbox..... I'm a gamer but i'll suck as a CEO

[LOGICWINS]

Because on N4G, any suit that doesn't work for Sony isn't a gamer.

[MysticStrummer]

Yeah it's hard to know if she's a gamer, but her resume shows no prior gaming related jobs.

Not that it will mean much if she ends up doing well, but for now her resume can be pointed at, right or wrong, as another sign that One's primary focus isn't gaming.

[andibandit]

Im already looking forward to the next E3, where she'll be standing on the scene pretending to be exited over the games.

E3 2014...COD:Ghost2 has just been shown...
Julie Larson-Green: "That dog looks really cute, I can't wait to play it."

[Mikefizzled]

Yay for sexism in a male dominated industry?

[GABRIEL1030]

Sure, she is not a gamer, neither developer or designer, the xbox division could fall this gen.

[DiRtY]

How about letting her have a full workday before we judge her?

Ahh this is for Microsoft... Now I get your point.

[LackTrue4K]

1000 times better looking the. What's his face!!!

[GiantEnemyCrab]

This lady has more plastic in her face than the Xbox One has in its shell. Don was sloppy as it can get but at least he knows the industry.

[s8anicslayer]

The problem is when your a gamer and you happen to be a fan of Xbox and you see drastic changes being made to the company of your beloved console it concerns you, you as a consumer have every right to be critical of alterations in the product and the manufacturer as a whole especially towards the individuals who will be making choices for your investment! I cast doubts over this change but lets be honest here, Microsoft is not one of or "The" richest companies on the planet because they do not know what they're doing! let's be optimistic and hope for the best. As an American our economy has suffered greatly the last few years and to see a company like Microsoft struggle or even come to a point of failure would be a devastating blow to all!

[Groo]

MS hs made its fortune because at the time were making technological advances that noone else had at that time, now people have other options avail and dont NEED to put up with MS. I agree it would be a devistaing blow for our economy, but how does that make Americans look if one of our larges companies goes and makes an ass of themselves infront of the entire world? I don't believe that helps...

[creatchee]

@allformats

"This is disconcerting."

Have you read into her at all?

http://www.wired.com/busine...

She's a geek like the rest of us. But she can apparently communicate well and adapt to situations - something that previous execs have been less than good at.

I like this.

[DARK WITNESS]

Very interesting insight.... watching the interview and reading about her, you know she may actually be good for xbox brand.

This could get interesting...

[fossilfern]

What this woman needs to do is make Kinect optional and drop the price. Its far too expensive.

[Jakens]

You sir are not saying what I would agree with.

[RedHawkX]

im glad she got it lol. xbox one is doomed for sure kinect games only for you guys for the rest of this gen. the moment i seen her im like this lady has never played a game in her life. had this been michele obama then that would be a different story i know that chick is in tuned with games and entertainmet culture. black chicks know whats up lol.

[Cryptcuzz]

Dude that's our first lady you are talking about but hey! It was funny and you meant no harm, so you made me laugh with your comment.

[dark-hollow]

Wow I didn't knew this site has a lot of sexist people.

Yeah she's a woman, the women who will take charge of Xbox division in one of the biggest companies in the world, while we male gamers here keep fighting over which game have nicer pixels and fap to jessica nigri cosplays.

Give her some credit and let's wait and see how well she fare in her job.

[Mounce]

My thoughts exactly allformats.

Like hell, you know that big-tall black woman of Ubisoft(Aisha Tyler/#Girlwood) is a damn gamer. She makes it blatantly clear without having to FORCE herself into the audience under some 'acting' of being a gamer.

but.....only someone with a passion who knows what field they're working in, Outside of the bloody field of Business, should be involved with this industry really.

[allformats]

Agreed with you completely bro. Right on point!

[Gamers_United]

Please shut the hell up already and who gives a flying f...ck about Sony I don't plus your comment is a huge fail

[DOOMZ]

How do you know shes not a gamer?!?

[Sarick]

From the looks of it it seems that the new direction is more a multimedia entertainment station and less of a gaming console.

Don't take this lightly it reminds me of those games dish network tried to sell to customers over their DVR players. You know the ones that are like old java and flash based games.

This is how I feel the company is headed to less hardcore and more simplistic multimeada system.

Instead of the console being developed with the core audience being gamers it'll be developed as a multimedia center 1st and a gaming device 2nd.

This will mean the development for it will be split between the multiple aspects leaving the gaming potion a lot smaller influence then the previous generation.

Frankly, I'm even more less interested. This Xbox product got its start as a gaming console. They are trying to slowly market a proprietary multimedia computer as a gaming console.

Sounds to me like they're shifting away from gaming and using the Xbox to get a foot in the door for something other then a console.

Why else would they merge all these divisions into the XBOX? The answer is they want to integrate them into one central multi-media device. The new setup won't have GAMING as the its priority. The other web access, search engines, skype player, TV DVR and music player will all be equally developed.

So are they developing a gaming system that can do multimedia or a multimedia system that can play games.

It's important that people realize the difference between those. Basically it's like when someone who has 51% share controlling interest in a company. If they want the system to be developed for games the other features will have less development. If they want it to be less about games then the gaming aspect will suffer.

[Cueil]

Jebus do you know how to read? The OS side (the multi media functions) are being completely removed form the Xbox One's division into a the OS division. That would point towards a sharper focus on games.

[Cueil]

yeah because the gamer they had in charge did really well... no they need leadership and someone who is willing to listen and make changes on a product she didn't create (ala Win 8.1)

[Syntax-Error]

Women should not run companies. I am a sexist pig and I know it. I should be flogged

[patsrule316]

Say what you want about Don Mattrick, he was a gamer, and has been running games all his life. He started a software company that made games for the Apple 2 and Commodore 64 when he was 17, and pretty much stayed in gaming to this day.

[Narutone66]

Maybe she could get the job done. As stated in her Wiki page, "User experience" is her passion.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

[showtimefolks]

this isn't right MS, this isn't right

how about letting someone of gamer background run you know a gaming console company?

hopefully she will have a straight head on her shoulder and will be able to see what gamers really want, i am willing to give her the benefit of the doubt but not MS

[otherZinc]

This isn't a good selection at all.

[ALLWRONG]

Do you guys say the same thing when Sony puts "non gamers" in charge, or are you just doing this again? http://n4g.com/news/1308957...

[humbleopinion]

Only problem with your argument is, people like Tretton are not gamers. They're suits.
Tretton is coming from Activision after all, same origins as Bobby Kotick. And before that Duracell. He was never a gamer and never a game developer.

But the thing is: suits work. Be it Kotick or Tretton, or Gabe Newell - games are a business and you need to know how to run a business.

Don Mattick on the other head started his career in game design - and look what direction he took Microsoft to: Kinect and TV. That's his legacy. Will Wright lost it. Peter Molyneux lost it.
Maybe we should let suits run businesses and let game designers stick to designing games.

[StinKyNuGz]

True that bro

[adamandkate]

hot

[coolmastermarktwo]

i hope you're joking

[MooseWI]

Good luck.

[josephayal]

oh no the horror

[Goro]

No, no, no...that's terrible news

[from the beach]

Best of luck, Julie!

[GiggMan]

That comment read with the expression of your avatar is hilarious.

[from the beach]

I meant it sincerely! Honest!

[SpideySpeakz]

I gladly welcome her to the X Wars.

The Fanboys will eat her alive.

[danthebios]

guess she didnt like playing riiiddgge raaaccceer lol

[b3ast]

MS = LOL - Get The don Back :D

[JBSleek]

She is the head of hardware not particularly Xbox. She handles the actual device but has to work in close proximity of other departments such as the OS and services.

[lucidity]

It'll be interesting to see how this pans out, given the way internal politics and tribalism tends to be at these big companies.

[DonFreezer]

Well I have always objected about the hiring of college buffs not knowing anything about the industry but who knows?
It's quite simple when company hire people based on their college education and working experience in a field where both of those are second to the real qualifications witch are video gaming of course.

[Shinox]

XBOX system is Amanda bynes / Justin bieber of gaming .

Just sayin'

[Syntax-Error]

That was corny as hell. Not only that, but grow the f#ck up. The let's hate on M$, EA, ACTIVISION, XBONE, XBOX 180, and UBISOFT movement is old and tired. Find something else to bubble up with or trend on loser

[Syntax-Error]

Mad? Because I mentioned that the "I HATE..." trend is getting too old? Again, you losers need to grow up

[Loki86]

Never trust a woman with a hyphenated name.. For real, hope she does a great job and has the gamers interest at heart, she is an overachiever so that is a plus.

[FanboyCrusher]

Can we even give her a chance? Who knows, maybe she'll surprise us in a good way.

[Thomaticus]

I hope that she doesn't ever feel the need to have to pretend to be a gamer if she's not. All she needs to do, is ensure that customers are satisfied with their product and engaged with their services.

[papashango]

I like this comment.

[ironmonkey]

Wow thats not good at all. Shes prob thinking no violent games anymore just kinect.

[Loki86]

Don's goal since taking over for Jay has been trying to take the casual audience, so this makes zero sense.

[rezzah]

Yea you're right because the woman that just left focused a lot on the Kinect too.

[310dodo]

Bad hire.

she isnt a gamer. No one at Microsoft was better for gaming?

[SpideySpeakz]

Do MS even care about gaming? They rather spend millions on quick-fixes (timed-exclusives, Day 1 exclusives) than actually buying out talented studios.

[KaMaHKaZiE]

I don't really know what to think. I had no problem with don but business is business. I just don't really see how a person who isn't a gamer can head a gaming company. Hopefully this doesn't ruin anything but, I got a bad feeling about this Scooby.

[HappyWithOneBubble]

LOL MS got their own Sarah Palin. Can't wait for future E3's . They will be hilarious.

[FrigidDARKNESS]

She has worked with MS for 19 years and over seen the Windows 7 and other software launches.
It is not required to have hardware experience to do this job just make sure production quantities are met on a daily basis.

[pedrof93]

LOL BOTOX.

[Mikeyy]

The next water cooler indeed.

Enjoy the guaranteed kinect focus next gen.

[Belking]

Doesn't look that way now does it? At least people actually want kinect. Can't say the same about ps eye......or vita for that matter...lol

[Themba76]

like i said and ill say it again kinect is a totally useless usher dance spycam thats is a complete casual gimmick and im a long time xbox owner.

[Mikeyy]

I was poking fun at the fact that No real Xbox gamer want's kinect.

This is bad news in a nut shell.

and the Vita comment is off base considering the sales boost it got this month.

[strigoi814]

Best of luck to her hopefully she will overcome tons of challenges ahead..

[XabiDaChosenOne]

When I look into her eyes all I see is Usher and skittles, this won't bode well...

[esemce]

Microsoft Failhard.

[Tzuno]

there is something in her name, Green hmmm......

[Bowzabub]

Yeah, Greenpowerz (PowerofGreen) has finally revealed herself. XD
I knew it...

[SatanSki]

Yeeey, miss botox...

[iconic56]

Let's just set the record straight...

How the fuck do you prove you're a gamer? Just because a whole bunch of MALE exec's say they are gamers, you believe them because they know their content.. and of-course, men like to game.

If a woman were to come out and bullshit us and says she games all the time, we'd call bluff and be like this is PR shit.... why else? Because women don't really game... not like us men do... please..

Get with it, internet. Being a gamer (which is diverse as hell in itself) has NOTHING to do with how well they run a gaming company. Jack Tretton is awesome because he observes and listens to his consumer base... but whatever.. I'm sure he's hardcore gaming 24-7... whatever you want.

[RGDubz]

R.I.P X-Box 187, we hardly knew ye.

[Kidmyst]

"Larson-Green previously served as the head of Microsoft's Windows division" Hopefully Windows Vista wasn't her doing. Not being a gamer is concerning.

[NeoRatt]

She took over Windows after the release of Windows 8.

[sAVAge_bEaST]

Serious?? (I don't feel like researching a.t.m.) because win8 is the worst OS, I have ever used,.. my wife got a new laptop last week. I had to use a 3rd party app, just for the start button. So un-user friendly, I thought chimps designed it.

[NeoRatt]

@sAVAge_bEaST...

She took over after, so she is in charge of Windows 8.1 which is reversing many of the direction 8.0 went...

[lgn15]

Fuck... Well now we know there isn't a gamer leading the company. At least if it was a guy I could have the slightest thought in my mind that maybe, MAYBE, he had player video games before. This chick will ruin Xbox. The only decisions ever made will be business oriented so we will of course get a crappy product next gen.

[NeoRatt]

This article is wrong. She is only leading the hardware and studios group. The operating systems (aka the platform services) is being led by Terry Myerson. There is also a Cloud computing leader Satya Nadella. And an Apps leader Qi Lu.

So, the four of them will define the Xbox from each of those four aspects.

What MS seems to be doing is changing from a vertical product organization to a horizontal product organization.

[airgangstarr]

Ask her what her favorite game of all time is she well say sega !!! lmao

[EXVirtual]

I knew it! I knew MS wouldn't give the position to an actual gamer.

[DevilishSix]

Awful just awful. This just confirms MS is more interested in apps, television, movies, software than in games. This individual is well versed in software, apps, etc based on her work experience. She has NO experience in games, game developement or its related experiences. This is a horrible move by MS, but its what Ballmer wanted and what Ballmer wants he gets.

[blackmanone]

No offense to her, but I have a hard time believing someone has good judgement when they do that to their lips. That's crazy.

[brianunfried]

I would be worried. Not because she's a woman, but because she has no gaming experience. Also, I wouldn't trust anybody with that much botox in their face, tells a lot about someones personality.

[kingdip90]

This move makes sense I guess. Microsoft want you to own a windows pc, an xbox one and a widows phone. So they will have a hand in all of your forms of entertainment. Putting their windows 8 lady in charge of xbox one will make sure the xbox and other windows devices will comunicate well. There is a lot of potential money for a buisness if the can monopolize a versitile media hub like that. Its a shame for them it won't work

[S2Killinit]

aaaannnd she has nooooo gaming background whatsoever. Well done.
PS: You know she is all about Silicon Valley when she has that much of the stuff injected into her face. lol jk
PSS: she looks like a cat lol also jk

[mippledipple]

Well Julie, you've been given a gift by having the standard-setter of the industry handed to you. Don't mess it up!

[D-riders]

standard setter?

[Groo]

Feminist Propaganda bro

[D-riders]

yeah seeem s like a bad hire to head the game industry im gonna check her credentials.
she ahs a ba in business admin and a master in computer science. how does this relate to game design.
her exerience is in user experience, meaning she would be great for a customer service lead but to head a ame division is as bad a move as the rrod fiascal. wtf MS first you spit on us and then this.
I work in IT and my boss is a woman. i have nothing against women, but although she does a lot of customer experience and know a ton abou tcomeputer. I wouldnt even have her hook up my ps3.
wow great move MS..

[zoks310]

Good luck to the Xbox division. It will never be the same for the Xbox brand.

[Groo]

I pray Im way off base with this rant but get ready to be bombarded with Bravo and Lifetime crap.. cause everyone just loves the real housewife shows.. and some people actually believe reality TV is real.. Sports reality shows and cops are the only ones genuine. I can't even watch NFL network anymore w/o the female broadcasters talkin about crap that has nothing to do with football etc.. I can see it now.. Wealthy Female Buisness Exec in charge of a product that males are the majority comsumer... ah the possibilities are endless...

[Gamers_United]

Well done Jules

[wishingW3L]

they went from bad to worse. The Xbox brand is doomed.

[VonBraunschweigg]

So from xBox 720 we're now down to Botox 180. Great.

[Indo]

Could of been worse.

[GraveLord]

Ouch. Microsoft is going through some changes that will potentially mess up the Xbox One launch. I couldn't be happier!

[sync90]

Dat face! anyone ever heard the expression 'a bulldog chewing on a wasp?'

[LiarasBoobs]

At least shes better to look at than that rat-faced mattrick fella. Next E3 will be fun.

[sync90]

Shes as ugly as sin!

[LiarasBoobs]

Oh I agree, I was just saying still better than Mattrick.

[Deltaguy]

uhh someone posted article on yahoo talking about N4gs reaction to this... http://news.yahoo.com/gamer...

[LiarasBoobs]

lol oh Rebecca Greenfield, you silly silly "journalist" you.

The problem here isn't that shes a woman, the problem is that she does not have the gaming experience that the head of a gaming division should have.

[sync90]

Also she has a face that resembles a badgers ass! far more important.

[Drasill]

Don was a gamer and a former developer and people didn't seem to like him much. Maybe an outsider will be beneficial.

[GodGinrai]

I dunno about this one,man. Ill asy this though, maybe her lack of experience will cause her to listen to the gaming community and devs. She is smart enough to know that she must learn a particular area before leading in it. So maybe she will let guys like harrison and spencer do what is needed and just sign it off.

EDIT:well im hoping thats what she will do...dont get no "bright" ideas, lady...

[mrios2000]

You guys are on Yahoo! lol:

http://news.yahoo.com/gamer...

[kenshiro100]

...I don't think this is a good idea.

[Picnic]

I wouldn't mind being on the receiving end of her restrictive policies.

[xc7x]

the green one

[360ICE]

Am I really gonna have to be the one to either directly or indirectly point out the huge elephant in the room that she's a woman?

I can't believe that we don't all in some way have comments mentioning that.

[TheGreatBambinoX]

What the hell is wrong with her face. I guess Microsoft is really investing a lot of plastic into this new Gen.

[GentlemenRUs]

Fembox One!

[The_Truth_24_7]

Just when you think MS couldn't possibly get any worse.

[Sarobi]

I said it before.. I don't think Larson is a good pick for this position. I would of considered Spencer or Harrison for this, but whatever.

[PS4isKing_82]

Wow I see lots of casual crap in Xbox's future now. Lots more excercise and dancing games and cute kid games for the family. Women are not gamers. They strongly oppose most of them anyway so this is a little confusing as to why they hired a woman for the job. Poor Microsoft. Sony and Nintendo are going to crush them this gen.

[sAVAge_bEaST]

yea, my Girl -Hates_ video games. ,, never thought about it ,, in that perspective.

[m42orca]

This is actually the first smart move by Microsoft I have seen since E3 2013. It was my impression from E3 that the Xbox One was not about games or the gamer. It was about all the other stuff like music, video and entertainment. Her lack of experience in gaming or the gaming industry will make her perfect for this new role.

Note to those who can look between lines....Microsoft IS NOT trying to compete with Sony. Microsoft is trying to compete with Apple who is absolutely top dog in music, video and entertainment. Microsoft is only keeping on "games" because it did a really good job with the 360 games...which is true. But really, games is PART of Xbox One...not the reason for Xbox One. If it got more black and white that this I must be blind.

That said, I have a 360 and will keep it now especially since it's a game system with a good library and it will sit right next to my PS3 and PS4. I hope the 360 stays viable for years to come because I plan to buy games for it.

The Xbox One is a new thing. Let's see what happens. I'll watch from the sidelines while I fire up my game consoles...360/PS3/PS4.

:-)

[Captain Tuttle]

Christ the comments in here are embarrassing.

[Vip3r]

Garbage in, garbage out.

Lets face it, all that matters is the person cares about money. That's all MS cares about. Not your gaming experience.

[SynestheticRoar]

I hope Miss Green does a great job. Heaven help her. She has a lot of work ahead of her.

[Gamers_United]

Congrats julie best of luck you will do awesome don't listen to these trolls

[jairusmonillas]

I'm calling it now, Xbox One's library is going to be filled with Kinect games.

[ASH_ufo]

NEW IP FOR XBONE: microsoft office

[WickedLester]

I'm not going to lie, even after hearing the name "Julie Larson-Green" it never crossed my mind that it was a woman taking over Xbox division leadership! Don't know why really but I just assumed it was a guy!

As far as her being a non gamer, I don't think BEING a gamer has any bearing on whether or not she can run a games company any more than someone having to be, say a musician to run a music company. I work for a company that makes construction equipment but I couldn't tell you the first thing about how to operate the machinery, LOL!

[Groo]

Preorder your Pink Xbox One Girl Power Limited Addition Bundle Today and get a Year free subscription to LifeStyle Magazine! For the first 1000 preorders you will also recieve a $50 giftcard to Sephoria! You deserve to game in style! So c'mon girls, don't be left out!