Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer addresses Xbox leaks: ‘So much has changed’

What you need to know

• Extremely early on Sep. 19, a number of PDF attachments were discovered in files Microsoft submitted as part of its recent court hearing regarding Activision-Blizzard. 
• These attachments contained unredacted files concerning some of Microsoft’s business figures for Xbox, as well as email conversations around acquisitions and details for Xbox hardware plans. 
• Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer responded to the leak, saying that the “much has changed” and that the team will share more later. 

Microsoft has acknowledged the massive leak surrounding Xbox. 

Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer responded via Twitter on Tuesday, addressing the unintentional upload of information that took place earlier on the same day as a result of files continuing to be processed in the wake of the Microsoft vs. FTC court hearing.

“We’ve seen the conversation around old emails and documents,” Spencer says. “It is hard to see our team’s work shared in this way because so much has changed and there’s so much to be excited about right now, and in the future. We will share the real plans when we are ready.”

The leak was the result of attachments within a PDF not being properly redacted or removed. While speculation ran rampant throughout the day, per Bloomberg, the leak was caused directly by Microsoft, which sent a link to the court that pointed to the files to upload.

Analysis: Yeah, that’s about all you can say

I mean…what else can you really say? Obviously some things will have changed, and I’ll be curious about what exactly those are when we get to that point, but this is a massive leak, easily one of the biggest in all of the gaming industry’s history. Not much more anyone can add to that except to move on. 

While I haven’t said much about the leaks because I’ve been trying to finish a review, I hope that certain possible games are still happening, and I’m excited around some of the hardware evolution the Xbox team seems to be working towards.