Microsoft Xbox Executive out Amid Reshuffling

A key Xbox marketing leader is leaving Microsoft amid executive shuffling in the company's gaming business.

Jeff Bell, corporate vice president of global marketing for Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business, is leaving the company at the end of the summer to pursue other interests after only two years at the company, Microsoft said Thursday. Summer in the U.S. typically means the months of June, July and August.

Microsoft also has promoted two existing executives to new positions in the business. Shane Kim will take on a new role as corporate vice president of strategy and business development. Kim is currently corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios. In his new role he will be responsible for exploring new growth opportunities with partners, Microsoft said.

Six-year Microsoft games veteran Phil Spencer will take over as general manager of the global Microsoft Game Studios business, the company said. Spencer will move to Microsoft's headquarters of Redmond, Washington, from the U.K., where he has been general manager of Microsoft Game Studios Europe.

Both Kim and Spencer will report to Don Mattrick, senior vice president of the Interactive Entertainment Business. Bell will assist Mattrick in the transition for the next several months as the company seeks a replacement for his position, Microsoft said.

In the interim, Matt Barlow, Charlotte Stuyvenberg and Jim Merrick, who currently lead day-to-day product marketing and communications for the business, will cover Bell's global marketing duties.

Bell joined Microsoft in June 2006 as a much-ballyhooed executive who helped turn around the Jeep and Chrysler brands as vice president of product strategy for the Chrysler group at DaimlerChrysler, and for pioneering Chrysler's video game and online marketing strategies. In a press statement, Microsoft credited Bell with driving a "cultural change" in how it markets its entertainment brands.