Phil Harrison, former head of Stadia, would have left Google

In January, stadium it shut down and put an end – at least for now – to Google’s aspirations in the world of video games. And with the death of the cloud platform, it would be the end of the road for Phil Harrison in Mountain View. In accordance with business insiderthe former head of service left the Californian company.

The details of Phil Harrison’s departure are brief and not officially released. The aforementioned media claim that the British left the company earlier this year, as soon as Stadia’s cancellation took effect. It is not yet known what the future of the former head of PlayStation and Xbox will be.

Video game industry veteran Phil Harrison has been the target of all criticism of Stadia’s management and operation. In fact, his last post on the official Google blog dates back to September 29, 2022, when he announced the end of the cloud gaming service.

The Executive Director joined the Mountain View team in January 2018 as Vice President and General Manager. However, it wasn’t until March 2019 that it became known what he was working on when the company announced the promising launch of Stadia. However, since then everything has gone downhill.

Phil Harrison would have left Google after the failure of Stadia

Stadia not only failed to revolutionize the cloud gaming industry, but but Phil Harrison’s management remained at the epicenter of the storm. Firstly, when it was announced that the studios that were developing exclusive video games for the platform were closing. Later, when rumors began to grow that the service was supposedly shutting down and that Google was considering making its game streaming technology available to third parties. Although, with the exception of a couple of specific cases, the latter did not happen either.

But the straw that broke the camel’s back was the announcement of the closure of Stadia. Not only because of the cancellation of the platform itself and its consequences, especially in the Californian firm, but how Phil Harrison told the rest of the staff about it. As it became known in September, the executive director did not even inform his employees in advance about the fate of the platform.

What’s really unique about Phil Harrison is that despite being involved in some of the most ambitious projects in the video game industry in the past 20 years, it never came out well.

An impressive history in the industry

Phil Harrison joined Sony in the early 1990s, but his most famous role came in the mid-2000s as President SCE studios around the world —Today SIE— However, he ended up leaving through the back door.

In early 2008, he left the company after criticizing the lack of participation of Asians in social games. Although the relationship had already soured after the troubled debut of the PlayStation 3 in 2006, when the console was widely criticized for being expensive and lacking quality games.

Meanwhile, in 2012, he joined Microsoft to work on the Xbox. Although his history with the Redmonds only lasted a few years. Phil Harrison joined us when Don Mattrick was still head of the entertainment division, and the unfortunate launch of Xbox One in 2013 didn’t really benefit anyone at the company. British left in 2015when Phil Spencer was already appointed as the new leader of Xbox.

Since PlayStation, Xbox and Stadia have already crossed off his work experience list, what will be Phil Harrison’s next destination? So far it’s hard to say. But all indications are that it will be far from Mountain View.