The leader of Xbox's European ventures, Phil Harrison, has officially stepped down from his position to pursue interests outside of the company.

Microsoft representatives have confirmed to Polygon that Xbox exec Phil Harrison is parting ways with the company.Rumor has it that Harrison was frustrated that he didn't ascend to a higher rank when former Xbox head Don Mattrick left Microsoft to become Zynga's next CEO. It appears that Harrison may have also been frustrated with Phil Spencer taking Mattrick's place instead of him. Harrison's departure could also be linked to Lift London, a company he founded, being closed and merged into Microsoft's Soho Productions multimedia studio. As we may never know what truly happened, the fact of the matter is that Harrison's departure has been made public and official.

"Following a successful tenure as Corporate Vice President in Xbox in Europe, Phil Harrison has chosen to pursue business interests outside of Microsoft," said Phil Spencer, Head of Xbox. "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."

Phil Harrison originally signed on with the Big M as its Vice President of Interactive Entertainment Business and EMEA head of games. Harrison was previously Sony Computer Entertainment Europe's Executive Vice President as well as Atari's president and an executive board member for more than 15 years.

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