The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences has announced today that Xbox boss Phil Spencer will be the recipient of the AIAS Lifetime Achievement Award at the 25th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards ceremony in Las Vegas later this month.
The award will be presented to Spencer by Bethesda's Todd Howard, and you'll be able to watch the ceremony for yourself by tuning into IGN at 8pm PT on Thursday, February 24th.
Here's what Meggan Scavio, President of the AIAS had to say about the Microsoft Gaming CEO:
“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. On behalf of the Academy’s Board of Directors, we are looking forward to celebrating Spencer’s important impact on video game history by presenting him with our Lifetime Achievement Award.”
Spencer is in great company, with previous recipients of the award including Nintendo's Satoru Iwata and Genyo Takeda. Only a very select number of people have been presented with the award, which is described as follows:
"The Lifetime Achievement Award is reserved for individuals whose accomplishments span a broad range of disciplines over a lengthy career in the industry. Recipients are typically individuals distinguished for their business leadership and are not necessarily involved in development or the creative process. Through their leadership and ideology, these individuals have driven significant and positive change across the industry."
On behalf of everyone here at Pure Xbox, we want to wish Phil a big congratulations — it's well deserved!
[source interactive.org]
Comments 24
Congratulations Phil, very well deserved indeed.
Congratulations Phil Spencer - no one deserves it more!!
The man deserves it. It's a team effort and he's always the first to say it but he had to convince MS to not kill off Xbox and invest in it. He's actually a gamer and clearly just wants great games of all kinds for everyone to enjoy. Well deserved indeed.
Congratulations Mr Spencer. Few people in the business deserve it more than you do. Also, I'm happy to live in the times when games are considered art. I remember when I got into gaming in the early 90s that games were ridiculed as entertainment for children. Look where we are now and I couldn't be happier.
This man saved Xbox from near-death and turned the brand into an absolute powerhouse. He absolutely deserves this award.
Congratulations Phil Spencer!
Awesome news congrats
@Royalblues I'd bet money on his successor being Sarah Bond. It seems like Phil is building her up to his position for awhile now and personally I wouldn't have anything against it.
It is good to see a person who has worked literally from the bottom to the top receive an award like this.
He really was a great choice to lead XB after Don M. almost destroyed XB as a gaming brand. I don't necessarily disagree with what Don M. was trying to do, but the problem was that he was abandoning gamers who had built the brand thru their purchases. I have to admit I thought long and hard before I bought an XB One. And if Phil had not come along, I doubt I would own an XB today.
As much as I don't like the guy, he has probably changed the industry (for the better) and left his mark more profoundly than Miyamoto, Kojima or anyone else I can think of.
Phil Spencer is a Monster! Juergen Klopp of gaming
I'd say it's well deserved.
So he'll get an award at the 25th d.i.c.e awards show? Dice acquisition incoming! 🤣🤣
He revived a hulking corpse killed by Matrick. That's truly some achievement!
@JudaiMasters Like with Satoru Iwata and Steve Jobs, I don't think it's possible to replace what Phil does for the company with anyone else. Someone else can manage business. Someone else can make numbers work. But they're just business people. Phil has a charisma and enthusiasm that make sit all personal, and no money can buy that, and it doesn't come along every day. No matter how much he grooms her for the role, I don't think she or anyone can measure up to the impact he has on XB and the industry.
Wow, well deserved Phil. Three Cheers !!!!
Absolutely deserved, he basically made Xbox huge again and he also made gaming a friendlier thing with his lovely attitude.
@NEStalgia I absolutely agree! Sarah is a tiny shadow compared to him. He's Iwata-big or Miyamoto-big.
@NEStalgia I don't think it's necessary to find a perfect substitute for Spencer's successor, but it's certainly necessary to find one who won't ruin all the work that he has done. As long as Sarah Bond's vision for Xbox is aligned with Phil Spencer's, then that's good enough for me.
@LtSarge Don't get me wrong, she's at least an actual gaming customer actually in touch with the market unlike the spreadsheet focused stuffed shirt accountant that Jim Ryan is, or the Willie Lowman-esque Don Matrick. I'd prefer her any day. But she's still too much "typical suit" to be able to do what Phil does IMO. I just don't know that a true successor exists... The only other gaming exec to be so in sync with it was Iwata...
An absolute well-deserved award. A man with passion for gaming, leading the charge for ALL gamers out there. Congratulations!
Well deserved and testament to working your way up with one company. From signing as an intern working on the CD based encyclopedia Encarta in the 80's (remember that, it was the 'future') to where he is now.
A great and humble leader always pushing his team to the fore. Teaches by example. Long may he reign.
But when he does decide to step down, have faith in the people and processes he leaves behind.
I think Phil Spencer is still young enough to work LOL. I wish Miyamoto still was leading production in Nintendo. I don't need younger people working if the older are better. New Super Mario Bros. 2 was made by a young development team and it's the biggest cr*p that I have bought from Nintendo. Super Mario World and Sonic The Hedgehog 3 are masterpieces made by back then young people but not all young people are talented.
@Banjo- I get it that companies need young employees to replace aging veteran employees eventually, but what I don't get is why the young seem so.....bad? At least in Japan? I mean we constantly hear about how they're smarter and smarter and academics keep accelerating faster and faster (and we're entirely obsolete and it's "their" world now.) And the internet certainly makes it seem like everybody is a talented artist and we're all talent-less failures at life. And yet every project turned over to young people ends up being a steaming pile. Maybe it's just a Japanese youth thing?
@NEStalgia People don't change much. Talented people are still talented people when they grow older. Recently, many people in the West and in Japan study to become a developer and dream about making games on their own or working for an epic company. That's why there are so many bad "indie" games and why while the usual crew was making New Super Mario Bros. U, the best of the New games, a younger team that loves Mario games made that sh*t that New Super Mario Bros. 2 is while telling Iwata how much fun is to make Mario games (it was an Iwata Asks episode). It's not a question of age but talent (and lack of talent).
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