PAX West 2024 kicks off with a “storytime” speech from Xbox boss Phil Spencer, co-organizers ReedPop and Penny Arcade have announced.
At PAX West 2024, which runs from August 30 to September 2, the Microsoft Gaming CEO will take to the main stage to deliver an “informative and engaging talk on his expansive career in the games industry, spanning 30 years and several Xbox console generations.”
Spencer, who has led Xbox for a decade and now also runs Activision Blizzard after an acquisition spending spree, was recently interviewed at IGN Live to talk about all things gaming, including recent announcements and upcoming hardware.
However, Spencer has also recently overseen drastic cuts at Microsoft’s gaming business that have seen 1,900 staff let go and a number of high-profile studios shut down. Speaking to IGN's Ryan McCaffrey at IGN Live earlier in June, Spencer briefly commented on the shock decision to shut Redfall developer Arkane Austin and Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks as part of the sweeping layoffs.
"The closure of any team is hard obviously on the individuals there, hard on the team," Spencer said. "I haven't been talking publicly about this, because right now is the time for us to focus on the team and the individuals. It's obviously a decision that's very hard on them, and I want to make sure through severance and other things that we're doing the right thing for the individuals on the team. It's not about my PR, it's not about Xbox PR. It's about those teams.
"In the end, I've said over and over, I have to run a sustainable business inside the company and grow, and that means sometimes I have to make hard decisions that frankly are not decisions I love, but decisions that somebody needs to go make.
"We will continue to go forward. We will continue to invest in what we're trying to go do in Xbox and build the best business we can, which ensures we can continue to do shows like the one we just did."
Microsoft has a long list of video games in development at its various studios, including Call of Duty Black Ops 6 at Activision, Avowed at Obsidian, Doom: The Dark Ages at id Software, and many more. Spencer has also teased an Xbox handheld, which may be revealed later this year. Microsoft has said it’s going big at Gamescom in August, too, with Blizzard set to show off Diablo 4 expansion Vessel of Hatred and World of Warcraft expansion The War Within.
All this comes amid the backdrop of increasingly tough times for the video game industry, which has seen thousands of staff laid off in the last two years. For Microsoft, whose Xbox Series X and S consoles are struggling for sales in the face of tough competition from Sony’s PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch, the pressure is on to deliver in gaming.
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Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
