Phil Spencer, head of Xbox, at Build 2016.
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Microsoft game chief Phil Spencer on openness, HoloLens, and Xbox 1.5

  • Posted byby Dean Takahashi
  • Updated
  • 24 min

Microsoft has had its fair share of criticism about its platform strategy. Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, recently blasted Microsoft’s commitment to an open Windows platform. HoloLens may not do much for games at a time when rivals are betting on virtual reality. And Sony continues to lead in hardware sales in the console wars.

But last week, the company had a chance to fight back at its own Build conference in San Francisco. Three Microsoft executives responded to Sweeney’s criticisms about openness, including Xbox head Phil Spencer. Spencer went on stage at the Build to defend Microsoft’s commitment to keeping Windows open for third-party developers.

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Written by

Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.