Microsoft downplays Bill Gates' pledge to support Xbox division spin-off

Microsoft has downplayed statements made by Bill Gates, who pledged to support new CEO Satya Nadella if he decided to spin-off the firm's Xbox division.

Over the weekend Gates said, “Well, we’re taking PC gaming — Windows gaming — and Xbox gaming and bringing those a lot closer together. The power of the PC graphics chips means you can do great games there. So I’m sure Satya and the team will look at that, and, you know, it’s up to them. But we’re going to have an overall gaming strategy, so it’s not as obvious as you might think.”

However, Microsoft's Communications chief Frank Shaw has since cooled the matter in a statement to Eurogamer, saying that the comments were merely, "reflective of his support of Satya as CEO."

He added, "As Mr. Gates noted, Microsoft is committed to gaming across multiple platforms with Xbox as the centerpiece of our gaming strategy. We remain committed to Xbox and the millions of Xbox fans around the world."

We'll have more on this if it transpires.