Former Activision CEO Bobby Kotick wanted Phil Spencer to be his successor before he became the head of Xbox.
During an interview with Kleiner Perkins, former Activision CEO Bobby Kotick talked about his long-standing relationship with Spencer while discussing Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard. He hired Spencer to lead one of Activision’s businesses and viewed him as a future leader for the company. However, those plans changed when Spencer received an offer from Microsoft to lead Xbox. Rather than trying to convince him to stay, Kotick encouraged him to seize the opportunity.
“I hired Phil to come run one of our businesses,” Kotick mentioned. “He calls me up and he said they just offered me the head of Xbox. And I said, ‘Dude, take it. You know I want you here and I would love to have you here, but that’s your dream job, and so go do it.'” He added that Spencer had been his preferred successor at Activision, saying, “I was ready to hire him to come probably be my successor.”
Kotick’s statement points to the respect he has long held for Spencer, whose career at Microsoft eventually got him to lead Xbox and, following the software giant’s 68.7 billion US Dollar acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the entire Microsoft Gaming business.
Kotick also stated that Spencer’s leadership gave him additional confidence in Microsoft’s ability to manage Activision after the acquisition. “I knew the guy,” Kotick said. “I thought he’d be a good steward, really good steward for the business for the future.”
Since the acquisition closed in October, 2023, Microsoft largely integrated Activision Blizzard into its gaming division under Spencer’s leadership. Kotick noted that, based on what he’d heard, Microsoft didn’t dramatically alter the company’s day-to-day operations under Spencer’s leadership, adding that the removal of some corporate infrastructure only served to streamline parts of the business.
