Microsoft Has Finalized It's Reorganization, Xbox Brand Split In Two

Microsoft Has Finalized It’s Reorganization Plan – Splits Xbox Into Two Units

Posted Jul 11 2013 by Dylan Zellmer with 1 Comment

Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO, sent a company wide email this morning confirming earlier suspicions that the Xbox brand is now going to be split between two distinct teams. Xbox is just one of the divisions that will see a significant change. Microsoft as a whole will be organized into a number of new divisions: Engineering, Marketing, Business Development and Evangelism, Advanced Strategy and Research, Finance, HR, Legal, and Operations. Engineering is the home of the Xbox and four units will comprise the division: Operating Systems, Applications and Services, Cloud and Enterprise, and Devices and Studios.

In a nut shell this means that the Xbox One team is now split in half. Terry Myerson, former lead on Windows Phone, will now head up OS, which obviously includes the core functions of the Xbox One’s user experience. With Don Mattrick out the door to Zynga, Julie Larson-Green is now heading up hardware. As earlier reported, Skype head Tony Bates is now in charge of developer relations and evangelism, which could heavily impact the software side of things post Xbox One launch.

Microsoft has seemed noticeably disjointed since it’s Xbox One reveal. Executives weren’t able to address press inquiries in any type of united fashion post reveal, and the splitting of the Xbox team may lead to more miscommunication. Ballmer was quick to stress that the key focus of the reorganization is,

Improving our performance has three big dimensions: focusing the whole company on a single strategy, improving our capability in all disciplines and engineering/technology areas, and working together with more collaboration and agility around our common goals,

As well as the fact that,

We will reshape how we interact with our customers, developers and key innovation partners, delivering a more coherent message and family of product offerings

The reorganization will make it harder for Microsoft’s investors to discern if a specific product is underperforming. A new financial reporting structure is also in the works that will no longer break out different business units.

What’s your take on the split? Are you concerned about the Xbox brand, or does Ballmer have a vision for a more cohesive Microsoft in the future?

Source: GameInformer

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Dylan Zellmer

EIC at iGame Responsibly

Dylan splits time between games journalism, designing video games, and playing them. Outside of his deep involvement in the games industry, he enjoys It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Shameless, A Song of Ice and Fire, fitness, and family.