Microsoft has added Executive Vice President of Gaming, Phil Spencer, to its Senior Leadership Team.

　　The team currently consists of 16 Microsoft executives, including CEO Satya Nadella. As Executive Vice President of Gaming, Spencer now directly reports to Nadella. The Xbox Head being added to Microsoft’s inner circle of advisors suggests that the company believes that the gaming division is of growing importance to the Redmond-based multinational.

　　Website ZDNet reports that Microsoft’s employees have been informed about Spencer’s move yesterday.

　　Spencer joined Microsoft in 1988 as an intern and was later appointed development manager for Microsoft's online and offline consumer productivity products. He served as general manager for Microsoft Game Studios until 2008 when was appointed general manager of Microsoft Studios – a position he fulfilled for one year before he was named Corporate Vice President of Microsoft Studios in 2009.

　　He was promoted to head of the Xbox brand and Microsoft Studios in late March 2014.

　　On Twitter, Spencer thanked everyone for their kind words following his promotion. “Thanks to everyone for the very nice comments today, great show of commitment by MS to the Gaming opportunity, proud to be part of this team”, he Tweeted.