In a recent Fox Business interview, former CEO and now “technical adviser” to Microsoft, Bill Gates, stated he would fully support the current Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella if he decided to sell off the Xbox division of Microsoft. In the interview Gates was asked several questions regarding selling off both the Xbox division as well as Bing. Bill Gates responded with an indifferent opinion regarding the Xbox division, while not being for or against selling it, he simply said he would support the CEO’s decision. That’s not the case for Bing however. Gates was quick to defend Bing and called it a “core component” of Microsoft.
Bill Gates wasn’t quick to write off the Xbox completely, nor did he blatantly say that they should sell it. In the same interview, Gates said “We’re taking PC gaming, Windows gaming, and Xbox gaming and bringing those a lot closer together.” This is most likely a reference to the fact that Microsoft is now using the Windows 8 platform on most devices including PC’s, smartphones, consoles, and tablets. Gates also mentioned since all of these devices are linked with Windows 8, then doing a sell-off is “not as obvious as you might think.”
While I hate to stir the console war pot and I try to avoid controversy, it’s also worth mentioning that the current head of hardware efforts Stephen Elop, who was once considered for the Microsoft CEO position, was rumored to be considering a sell-off. Now that he’s in charge of hardware, that very goal could be reached with ease. Do you think Bill Gates and Microsoft have plans to sell their Xbox division anytime soon? Of course this was just one interview and Gates simply stated he would support the CEO, but it doesn’t help that the Xbox One is currently struggling and losing in sales to the Playstation 4. Is this something to be on the lookout for in the near future, or will Gates’ comments simply mean nothing to Microsoft? Let us know in the comments what you think.