By William Baker III
Phil Spencer is seemingly a rarity in gaming: he’s a CEO who cares. The video game industry and the video game community are often viewed as separate, but it is people like Phil who help to bring them together. As the head of Microsoft Gaming, he has helped to launch consoles like the Xbox One and series X/S, as well as worked to expand not only games Halo and Doom, but also bring features to games that players clamor for, like cross-platform play. And he gives back by mentoring us as well.
Phil has had an impact on so many people. For instance, I grew up on Minecraft. Minecraft has helped me connect to friends I never would have met, comfort me in times when I’m sad, and give me something to look forward to when I find out that new features are coming. It’s given me something I can always come back to. What people like Phil have done to help bring Minecraft into the modern gaming space is so amazing because it shows that he really cares about not just the games he works on, but the gamers.
In 2023, The New York City Department of Education and the Mayor of New York teamed up with Minecraft Education and C40 on their annual Minecraft student build challenge. In this challenge, students were tasked with creating new, innovative, and sustainable solutions that will combat climate-related issues that threaten future generations of New York City using Minecraft Education.
In fact, the Circle is joining this year’s Battle of the Boroughs with our own Minecraft Writing Challenge. If you’re in high school in NYC, you can get the scoop – and enter – right here. Create and win cash prizes!
Microsoft has worked on far more than just Minecraft this year, though! Its merger with Activision Blizzard King meant that games like Call of Duty, Diablo, Overwatch and Candy Crush were all united with Xbox. Phil’s statement on the matter was that, “As one team, we’ll learn, innovate, and continue to deliver on our promise to bring the joy and community of gaming to more people. We’ll do this in a culture that strives to empower everyone to do their best work, where all people are welcome, and is centered on our ongoing commitment of Gaming for Everyone.” This is one of the largest mergers of its kind, and has led to an Xbox team over 10,000 strong spread across the entire globe.
Things aren’t just popping off in that arm of Xbox, Bethesda has had an amazing year as well! The launch of Starfield, their biggest ever at over 6 million players (even breaking 1 million concurrently), marks a hefty addition to GamePass and seemingly another hallmark of what is possible in games. Its cinematic expression, amazing environment and outstanding graphics have set the bar high for what RPGs could, and should, be going forward.
Phil met with interns from the NYVGCC in November. He gave advice, direction and inspiration to my peers, and it was amazing to see how receptive and forward-thinking he is about the industry. I wasn’t able to attend the lunch myself, but because of that Harold, our founder, asked Phil to sign Harold’s Xbox controller – for me! I almost don’t want to use it to play games just to keep it in pristine condition …Almost.
We’re thrilled that Phil has maintained an interest in what we do – even though he’s as busy as he always it. I, for one, can’t wait until the next time Phil mentors. This time, I plan to be there!
Intern and Minecraft fan William Baker III attends Hunter College High School in Upper Manhattan.
