Newly minted Microsoft gaming CEO Phil Spencer is set to receive the prestigious AIAS Lifetime Achievement Award at the 25th annual DICE Awards later this month.
The awards show is a live event taking place in Las Vegas on February 24, with awards recipients being decided by industry peers who are part of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS). Todd Howard, game director at Bethesda Game Studios and a long-time peer of Spencer's, will present the award.
"Phil Spencer has demonstrated both passion and leadership throughout his entire career at Microsoft. He's responsible for countless impactful and pivotal initiatives that have reverberated throughout the entire gaming industry," said AIAS president Meggan Scavio. "On behalf of the Academy’s Board of Directors, we are looking forward to celebrating Spencer's important impact on video game history by presenting him with our Lifetime Achievement Award."
According to the AIAS, the Lifetime Achievement Award is reserved for people whose "accomplishments span a broad range of disciplines over a lengthy career in the industry." Likewise, it recognizes its recipients for their leadership, ideologies, and positive impact on the industry rather than their direct contributions to the development of games. Former Nintendo president Satoru Iwata was posthumously given the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015.
Spencer got his start in the video game industry in 1988 when he was offered an internship after a chance encounter with a Microsoft VP who happened to be his college classmate's dad. He became head of Xbox in 2014 and, just last month, CEO of gaming at Microsoft.
"The people we work with are the most important part of any progress," Spencer said in a statement on Twitter. "This is so true for me. Not only members of Team Xbox but also players, partners, other platform holders have all helped me learn, grow and realize the opportunity we have. Thank you."
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