Phil Spencer Acquiring Lifetime Achievement Award At DICE Awards This Month

This month’s 25th Annual DICE Awards will take place. The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences announced that Phil Spencer, head of Xbox, will be receiving the AIAS Lifetime Achievement Award.

Todd Howard, an industry veteran and Microsoft alumnus, will present Spencer the award. Howard joined the company in 2019 through the acquisitions ZeniMax Media parent ZeniMax Media and Bethesda Game Studios. In the announcement of the award recipient, the AIAS gave a summary of Phil’s history in the game industry including the new role of Microsoft Gaming CEO and the many studios he’s brought into the Xbox family. 

“Phil Spencer, who was appointed CEO of Microsoft Gaming January 20,22, has been in the technology and entertainment industry for over 30 years. He is a leader in global engineering, business and creative teams. Spencer joined Microsoft as an intern in 1988. He has since held many roles within the company including executive vice president, Gaming, Head of Xbox, corporate vice president, Microsoft Studios, and general manager, Microsoft Game Studios EMEA.

Spencer’s roles include leading the Xbox One S, Xbox One X and Xbox One S All Digital Edition launches; multiple acquisitions such as Mojang, Undead Labs and Ninja Theory. He also led multiple Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X purchases, which included Mojang, Ninja Theory and Ninja Theory. He has also led the expansion of cross-platform gaming with the Xbox Network, investments in subscription business models with Xbox Game Pass, and Microsoft’s introduction of Xbox Cloud Gaming. Spencer, along with his coworkers, continues to push boundaries in creativity, technical innovation and enjoyment across audiences, genres, and devices. 

Many of these accomplishments have occurred in just the past few years. The AIAS describes the Lifetime Achievement Award as “reserved for individuals whose accomplishments span a broad range of disciplines over a lengthy career in the industry,” and individuals do not necessarily need to be hands-on with development. It’s safe to say Phil Spencer has been a very influential force in the direction Xbox is heading this generation with its focus on powerful console hardware, flexible ecosystems that span the Xbox, PC, Mobile, and elsewhere, and popular services like Xbox Game Pass.

Meggan Scavio, President of the AIAS, was quoted saying, “Phil Spencer has demonstrated both passion and leadership throughout his entire career at Microsoft. He’s responsible for countless impactful and pivotal initiatives that have reverberated throughout the entire gaming industry.” The award has been previously presented to Minoru Arakawa, Howard Lincoln, Ken Kutaragi, Doug Lowenstein, Bing Gordon, Satoru Iwata, and Genyo Takeda.

The 25th Annual DICE Awards will be held on February 24 at 8 p.m. Pacific at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas.