There have been some questionable decisions as far as Microsoft’s leadership is concerned lately. Stephen Elop’s new job description doesn’t come as a surprise though. The former head of Nokia has been assigned as the Head of Devices and Studios division at Microsoft, basically gaining leadership over the Xbox products, Microsoft’s game development section and Microsoft Surface. This serves as somewhat of a reward for Stephen Elop, who helped bring Nokia under Microsoft leadership. His new position came at the expense of former Devices and Studios head, Julie Larson-Green.
Julie Larson-Green will instead take over Microsoft’s Applications and Services group, which handles projects such as Microsoft Office, Bing or Skype. While not a bad job by any standards, this is quite the obvious demotion for Julie Larson-Green. She set any bitter feelings aside though, and has publicly recommended Stephen Elop. “You are all in great hands with Stephen and already we’ve shared a lot with him and his LT from Nokia regarding all of the fantastic people, teams and products in DnS. I also know many of you are looking forward to welcoming the Nokia team and working more closely with them.” she stated.
However positive this recommendation sounds like, there are reasons for concern for Xbox fans. Elop has previously stated that he would shut down Microsoft’s Bing project, seeing it as a huge investment that doesn’t pay off in the long-run, as it makes no sense to compete with Google. He also pondered upon selling the Xbox section entirely, if the circumstances allowed it and it would benefit Microsoft in the bigger scheme of things. However, now that he’s actually in charge of the Xbox division, his plans have shifted. It will be interesting to see what these changes will mean for Microsoft. The appointment of Elop follows a series of drastic changes in Microsoft leadership, from Bill Gates stepping down as chairman, to the appointment of Satya Nadella as the CEO of Microsoft.
What do you guys think? Good news, or bad news? What are your predictions for the Xbox’s future, now that the former Nokia head has taken it over?