Phil Harrison to leave Microsoft

Executive Phil Harrison is leaving Microsoft, GamesIndustry.biz has learned through multiple sources at GDC, though Microsoft has so far refused to confirm his departure.

[lifeisgamesok]

This sucks if true but hopefully there's a good replacement and good luck to him

As long as we got Phil Spencer as the Xboss I'm happy :)

[Cartmans]

This guy almost killed Sony with his stupid decisions like pricing the PS3 during launch at $600!!

[christocolus]

I thought that was Kutaragi?

[SoapShoes]

It wasn't him. Also he was Kaz's spy to one up Xbox. Good job Phil for helping Sony while not on the payroll.

[OrangePowerz]

You can't blame the price of the console on him, he didn't design it.

[Cartmans]

I work for Sony undercover

#truth

[Godmars290]

"I thought that was Kutaragi?"

He was likely to blame for the software architecture issue. The "harder to program for" goto complaint.

[Umbasa]

Kutaragi you mean, yes?

[_-EDMIX-_]

..not really. What they did with the PS3 i feel was just fine.

They couldn't launch it below $600 AND have bluray. They needed both.

At the end of the day, having bluray paved the way for it to be cheap enough to be in PS4 AND XONE and have PS4 selling the way it is...

I'm sorry but INVESTING is what happens in the game industry, you don't think CD's where expensive when PS1 launched? Its why Nintendo passed it up, don't think DVD was expensive in 2000? Fact remains, they invested and made a very sound choice.

...mind you, PS3 sold MORE units then the 360. Phil did a great job, the team did a great job with what they were dealt with.

They had a long term plan, stuck with it and PS4 and XONE have blurays in them because of that long term plan...

Next time you play a game thats like MGSV, GTAV or FFXV...do yourself a favor and thank Sony and teams that pushed for Bluray to be in the PS3.

80 plus million units of PS3's sold also means its 80 plus million MORE bluray players sold to give you the cheap, nice new bluray players that launched this gen.

I'm sorry but it would have been a STUPID choice to take Bluray out JUST to reach a low price.

Soooo gimp all of gaming JUST so folks don't got to pay for a new format?

I'd rather pay for innovation and progression of gaming, then have a cheaper system that has less JUST to be cheaper.

It was a great choice evident by PS3 still selling well and PS4 having a cheap Bluray player....they invested and won.

PS4 is ONLY doing THIS WELL BECAUSE OF THAT SACRIFICE!

Hell, add XONE to that too as its using a Bluray player..

[Thehyph]

@edmix
"you don't think CD's where expensive when PS1 launched? Its why Nintendo passed it up"

Nope, I don't. CD's may have been expensive in 1982. In 1995 the jewel case was more expensive than the CD contained within. Also, Nintendo 64 cartridges were way more expensive to produce than optical storage.

[Godmars290]

CD data loaded slower than carts, but their memory capacity far exceeded and was more cheaper.

[360ICE]

He didn't design the console nor price it. He obviously had his say, but I think it's pretty unreasonable to put that issue on Harrison's shoulders. He was vice president and head of third party relations and research and development. You really should do your homework before just blaming anyone.

What he did do was bring franchises like LittleBigPlanet to PlayStation. I'd also argue that MS has been much better overall since he started.

[miyamoto]

He also almost killed the Xbox One with Don Mattrick!

[mikeslemonade]

He's the best spokesperson in the gaming industry. I know that's not a popular opinion but during his speeches he makes things seem more important than they actually are. On stage he would make the PS3 sound mysterious.

[Omegasyde]

hmm Phil was one of pushers for playstation home and iirc pushed for more motion sense games (ala the eventual release of ps move)

But

but

Pretty much bankrupt Atari while he was leading that sinking ship

[Gazondaily]

Lol Phil the double agent. Would certainly be interesting if he joins Sony but I highly doubt that's possible with the kind of non-compete clauses Microsoft's lawyers would have no doubt drawn up.

[pixelsword]

Didn't he also shoot JFK from a UFO with Bigfoot as the driver?

[Sevir]

Ken Kutagari was the one who gave the ok to launch PS3 at $600. Phil was tasked with bringing the games as he was the former head of world wide studios, he unified Sony's disjointed studios under the umbrella and mandated that the all share a common engine. At that time Shu was working under him as the vice president of WWS. Get your stories straight.

Phil Harrison Brought games green lit Resistance, Infamous Uncharted, and was responsible for the acquisition of LBP and Media Molecule And Evolution.

This man does his homework.

[raptorjacob]

you guys are acting like the ps3 was a dud. clearly it wasnt ever in bad shape. People still bought it at $600 and developers figured it out. Its actually one of my favorite systems.

[fr0sty]

That $600 console was still outselling its competition, and even though it never caught up to the Wii, it is still selling today while Wii is not.

[sarshelyam]

Yet it was the cheapest and most proficient Blu-Ray player released at the time. I'd understand the complaints if you actually understood the market when PS3 release, but it's a very narrow-minded approach when all you're doing is considering the price compared to the competition.

Even with the higher price, Sony bought into technology hard that has been adopted, even now, by its competitors. Blu-Ray was an expensive format, and Sony helped define it as a standard...and did so with a plan that would inevitably have them running toe-to-toe with their closest competitor.

[Syntax-Error]

Phil Harrison is a tool. He came from Sony in 2012 to MS and got upset because he was passed over for a promotion when Mattrick left ffor Zynga. How do you expect to get promoted within 2 years

[nowitzki2004]

Why do people keep knocking on that $600 price point.... Go research the cheapest bluray player at the time the ps3 came out.... There is none cheaper than the PS3.

[sonarus]

Tough loss for Harrison. With his experience and resume though, i am sure he will land on another fantastic opportunity in relatively no time

[richardmmorales]

The PS3 wasn't priced at $600. Don't know why everyone keeps saying this. It was $500 for the 20 GB Model and $600 for the 60 GB Model. Everyone acts like starting price was $600 when it was $500.

Also cheapest stand alone Blu-ray player at the time was $1,000. Also at the time a lot of people acted as if Sony had invented Blu-ray. Sure were a few misconceptions back then.

[Kleptic]

First, harrison was in charge of SCE world wide studios...he worked with Sony's umbrella of first party developers...he never had much influence or 'say' on the PS3's hardware...

second...the PS3 was not intentionally released at $500...in 2004, rumors were everywhere of an Xbox '2', and a PS3...both at around $400...with a release of both for 2005...sony never 'delayed' the PS3, but held off on announcements for it...all while the BD diode issue hit, and production was pretty much impossible for a 2005 release...

that manufacturing problem, unforseen before it was too late, is why the price got jacked up considerably, why it had a staged release in Europe...and why shareholders asked for Kutaragi's head just after release in 2006...

So yes, BD was always a great long term plan...just pointing out...Originally Sony didn't know that BD would end up being even that expensive...the original plan was to have a competing console at around the price of a 360...but with BD...by the time the issue showed up, it was too late to redesign, and kutaragi took the brunt of the fall out...

no other brand in gaming hardware would've survived 2006 and 2007...Sega made less of a mistake a generation before, and was scuttled within a year...If the problems occurred when there were still options, i guarantee the PS3 would've ended up being a very different console than what it ended up being...

[christocolus]

True.it sucks.he helped with the creation of lift and soho and he had an eye for good talent. Sad. but being a VP he hardly ever made announcements or appeared at major events.he never tried to reach out to fans.i always wondered why. Phil Spencer and the other execs never mentioned him in discussions.even lower execs like Ken lob and chris duncan are a lot more popular with xbox fans. the article also says he was close friends with Don mattrick infact it was Don who hired him.may be he is leaving to join Don at Zynga.

"GamesIndustry.biz understands that Harrison grew frustrated when Mattrick's departure and Spencer's subsequent promotion did not result in him moving up the corporate ladder, issuing the ultimatum to Microsoft that he would leave if not offered a new position. However, it seems that no offer was forthcoming, and Harrison has made good on his promise"

[turdburgler1080]

I always wonder what the VP for a business does anyway? They always seem to be in the background clapping and saying nice things. Sounds like a pretty cushy job to me. Sure he got paid well. I could do that. I'd be damn good at it too. I'd have the perfect clap down and wave. Do photo ops and echo what Phil said. Then when people asked me serious questions I would refer them to other people and shrug. I'd tell them that I'd have my people get in touch with their people.

[christocolus]

@turdburgler

lol. I honestly do not know what most VP's do. I think their job functions are usually stated but most of the time its just a title given to these guys to make them feel important. Ken Lobb will be a perfect replacement imo.

[Bigpappy]

Never warmed up to Harris. He doesn't come off as someone I can trust. Hopefully Sony will take him back. I don't know of any accomplishments he achieved while with Xbox.

[SoapShoes]

I agree, he did wonders for PlayStation though. He was there since launch of PS1.

[tanukisuit]

He was also with Atari for some time. Though, to be honest, it didn't help Atari much...

[Gamer1982]

Erm he came to xbox and brought a load of ps3 technologies and ideas with him which boosted 360 sales.. MS got him purely for his knowledge on what sony had in the pipelines and they used that to beat sony to the market and match them and now that has dried up they no longer need him.

[gamerfan128]

More childish, ignorant, blind fanboy personal attacks.

[OrangePowerz]

Was he even doing anything at MS?

[christocolus]

Lol.

[Zeref]

This^

I don't think he even had an E3 talk for the past 2 years. Or any other conference for that matter.

[tiffac008]

He was a spy embedded by Sony. XD

[TheFanboySlayer]

lmfao...exactly...bubbles to you

[DOMination-]

He announced tomb raider as exclusive at gamescon 2014 but don't remember him at any other conference. Phil seems to like taking that on himself

[joeorc]

Was he doing anything at Microsoft?

Of course he was

http://www.thatericalper.co...

As you can see he was doing quite a lot while he was there. /s

[Zeref]

He was annoyed at the fact that he didn't get the Xbox head position.

Good riddance to you sir.

[Mr Pumblechook]

Spencer promoted his friend Aaron Greenberg when Phil Harrison was a more suitable choice.

[KirbysDump]

Who cares

[Aceman18]

If true this was fast lol. How long has he been there?

[Syntax-Error]

"According to GamesIndustry International, Harrison "grew frustrated" when former Xbox boss Don Mattrick left the company in 2013 to join Zynga. Harrison, according to sources, was also frustrated when Phil Spencer's promotion to Head of Xbox did not lead to a promotion for him.

Finally, the site claims Harrison issued an ultimatum to Microsoft, saying he would leave the company if he was not offered a new, better position."

[Fatal-Aim]

That's gotta hurt....him leaving one company he's been at for years to join the dark side of another, and find that he actually hates it there.

[Eejanaika]

Never was a fan of him but as long as phil spencer stays im happy

[solid_snake3656]

Phil never sticks with one company. From Sony to Atari to Nintendo then to Microsoft.

[getrektedmate]

Good now I want Aaron GreenBerg, Larry Hyrb and some others to leave as well since they have done nothing besides destroy Xbox one. Thank god Phil Spencer came to the rescue. And don't even remind me of Don Mattrick...

[SoapShoes]

GreenBurg is the most annoying exec of all the companies. Such a big gloating mouth, it's disgusting! Have some damn class for crying out loud.

[Xavior_Reigns]

That guy is a troll, he really needs to be sent away.

[Multiplatguy]

Larry Hyrb leads the team responsible for the monthly updates. Why should he leave? Because you personally don't like him?

[OrangePowerz]

They could probably find a more sympathetic PR guy to do Hyrbs job.

[Multiplatguy]

@OrganPowerz

But Hyrb is not just some PR guy.. He is director of programming and has done a lot for the actual technical side of Xbox. Especially the Xbox One with monthly updates.

These are ignorant and childish comments to make.

[DOMination-]

Not to mention Greenburg is head of marketing so its kinda his job to talk and big up the xbox. Hes actually nowhere near as bad as he was in the early days of the 360 but that impression has stuck with people

[Immorals]

Major Nelson is annoying, but he's a valuable member of the team. First and formost, he's a gamer. And that's what game companies need, not like suits. Like greenberg..

[cell989]

Mmmm I feel like he's a gamer cause that's his job and he has to.I dont know might be exaggerating here, but he's always come up as a poser. Like he does it to fit in with the fans, at times you can see him trying too hard

[Zeref]

Don't you dare talk shit about Major Nelson!!

[porkChop]

Probably for the best. He helped botch the PS3 launch, and did the same again with the Xbox One. Phil used to be great but he seems to have lost his touch.

[Axonometri]

Put Xbox and Windows 10 together, lead by Phil Spencer. Microsoft... Tear down this Wall!

[d_g]

As long as Phil Spencer xbox boss

microsoft will do great in gaming :)

[TheLastColossus]

How it will do that when early dlc is whats mostly important instead of exclusives?

[d_g]

scalebound
gears of war 4
halo 5
quantum break
Crackdown
Phantom Dust
sunset over drive
forza 6
FH 2
etc..

what you call that early dlc or exclusives smart man ?

[x_RadicalAura_x]

One of the main people Microsoft has to thank for the cluster**** in miscommunication surrounding the Xbox One at E3 last year. Good thing he's leaving!

[SoapShoes]

Be realistic it was a joint effort and Spencer was just as big a part of it but ultimately it was the big bosses who dictated what went on and Mattrick, while a big part of the problem, was just a scapegoat. They needed to fire the face and put someone else in charge to change their image.

[Spotie]

Kinda gotta blame that on anybody who took questions from the media or gaming public. They were all complicit.

[Mikeyy]

It's like that episode of World poker tour where Phil went all in on a terrible hand, and lost all his chips.

[GameDev1]

The guy who tried to name Uncharted, "Dude Raider" before he left Sony

MS wont miss him

[Lokoline]

Seriously? lol

[Mikeyy]

LMFAO, Dude Raider? Seriously?

[italiangamer]

Your post is misleading as hell. It was the people on internet that referred to Uncharted as "Dude Raider" because when the first trailer was released the name wasnt 100% confirmed to be Uncharted. Do your research next time:

http://www.ign.com/articles...

[nucky64]

phil Harrison is like Jason rubin - they both were something where they originally started - but became non-factors after they left those positions.

[ThanatosDMC]

Yeah, that guy suddenly disappeared too.

[nucky64]

I remember when Jason rubin left ND - he said he was going to design a new type of game - and nothing was ever heard from him again.
all I could think was: here's a guy....co-founder of ND and having GREAT success - and he wants to rock the boat and move on. I kind of thought the guy was a little cocky. I wonder, after seeing what ND has become, if he doesn't regret leaving.

[Immorals]

Better send in my cv, I have a wealth of experience in playing games. And I look good in a suit. That's all they need, right?

[RedDevils]

Sound like a low life nerd :P

[Immorals]

I have a job and I live with my girlfriend, but apart from that, pretty much :p

[trywizardo]

And this dude is ?!

[MasterCornholio]

The man who played with ducks in a tub.

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

;)

[mushroomwig]

He worked for Sony until 2008 or so, he had Adam Boyes job or securing first and third party titles for Sonys platforms (he was the reason LittleBigPlanet ended up being a PlayStation franchise instead of a Nintendo one).

[urwifeminder]

As an xbox gamer I never have been a staff fan just suits to me same as game designers interested in games not staff. Just another guy I had not heard of seems I have only recently learned some staff names due to N4G.

[Plagasx]

I thought it said Phil Spencer for a moment there..

Almost gave me a heart attack O_O

[Gazondaily]

The moment that happens, its over lol.

[GearSkiN]

Now he's gonna try Nintendo lol

[gangsta_red]

Serious.

I wouldn't be surprised though if he ends up at a EA or Activision and then putting out statements of how he believes in that company's future and vision and everything else that comes along with PR.

[PistolsAtDawn]

Honestly forgot this guy worked for Xbox

[tanukisuit]

I believe he headed the European division. It might explain his absence at the past 2 E3's.

[neomahi]

Business and politics are the same thing. Equally and crooked and corrupt, equally and unpredictable, equally as uneducated and unforseen. Harrison mentioned long term Microsoft, exactly what I mean. It apparently was very short.

[Flipfito]

This guy is running out of friends.

[headblackman]

i hope this is true. i never trusted this guy at the xbox came. especially being that he was a sony playstation employee. i don't think microsoft trusted this guy much. that's probably why he haven't been seen or heard from since the release of the console.

[BlackTar187]

lol a little paranoid aren't ya?

[ThanatosDMC]

He's called Agent Phil for a reason.

[gamerfan128]

Utterly delusional and mentally ill fanboy conspiracy theories about "he was a sony playstation employee".

[OC_MurphysLaw]

He didn't get the promotion and he sees Phil Spencers success means that job won't come Harris's way anytime soon. Time to move on...

[shadowT]

bad move

[fayz]

PHIL SPENCER FOR LIIIIIFEEE

[JMyers]

I think this guy is a bad omen for console makers.

Atari, Sony (PS3 era), and MS (XB1 era)... Trend here is that a company seems to make poor decisions product wise when he is part of the company.

Not his fault of course. Atari was already dying, Sony's poor PS4 launch and decision making wasn't him, and the XB1 wasn't his either...

He was there all three times though.

[BlackTar187]

Ps3 poor launch?

I thin kat the time was the fastest selling console in history at the time and followed by the new fastest selling the ps4

[windblowsagain]

Blu-ray wasn't the reason for the high price, it was mainly the investment they put into cell.

[Picnic]

Phil seems to join companies at times when they're not particularly popular companies, stay through some successes and leave them not long after they've been through a rough patch, even if they've recently become popular again when he leaves. In the case of Atari, I'm not sure there was a 'successes' , 'popular again' period but in general his tenure at companies seems to be accompanied with aiming at some interesting game series helping towards some long term success even if he's not always still at the company when the long term success is there.

[TheTwelve]

Mission completed, he now moves on to his next task.

[WESKER2015]

he was a sony boy anyway

[gamerfan128]

Sick, blind fanboy personal attacks.

[Artemidorus]

Even more bad news for Xbox