The company is happy with his input in the past few years

Apr 18, 2015 01:08 GMT  ·  By

After rumors started surfacing earlier in the year, the Microsoft division in charge of the Xbox One is now ready to confirm that Phil Harrison, the leader of the European side of the business, is leaving the company in order to pursue a fresh challenge.

GamesIndustry.biz has managed to get confirmation of the departure from Phil Spencer, who leads the segment of the company focused on the home console.

He says that that Phil Harrison has had a successful tenure over the past few years and is currently interested in proving his worth with other projects.

An official statement from Spencer reads, "Phil has been a distinguished leader for our European Xbox team - overseeing production at our award-winning European studios and making a substantial contribution to the Xbox business globally. I want to thank Phil for his creativity and leadership over the past three years. Phil is a great friend of mine, and I wish him the very best with his future endeavors."

Neither of the two executives has mentioned what the former European boss is aiming to do in the coming months and years.

Phil Harrison says that he was happy to work with Microsoft and that he is proud of his team and the work they have done to promote the Xbox One and to offer a solid experience to its users.

Xbox One is still lagging behind the PlayStation 4

It's unclear whether Phil Harrison chose to quit because the home console he was supervising has not managed to sell more units than the rival PlayStation 4 in the last few months.

The Sony device continues to lead in terms of sales, and the situation will probably not change significantly before fall of this year.

Microsoft has implemented a price cut for its own platform in the United States, which was only partially reflected in Europe.

There are also plans to further integrate the Xbox One with the coming Windows 10 operating system.

The company is also preparing a solid set of exclusive launches for the fall of 2015, including the long-awaited Halo 5: Guardians, which should boost the sales of the Xbox One.

Rumors are also suggesting that Sony is aiming to announce its price cut after E3 2015 and that the company aims to reveal some surprises for its fans.