This Sneaky Phil Spencer Easter Egg Has Xbox Fans Talking

Team Xbox has become quite notorious in recent months for hiding surprises in plain sight. There was that time Xbox head Phil Spencer placed an Xbox Series S behind him during an interview — back when the Series S was nothing more than a rumor. On another occasion, Microsoft revealed its new Xbox Wireless Headset months before the product was officially announced to the public. Some believe this is a pattern, which is why so many are paying attention to a more recent Phil Spencer appearance.

In a recent stream, Phil Spencer talked about where he sees the future of gaming. His belief seems to be that the cloud will play a big role in the industry, a position that isn't all that surprising given Microsoft's own entry into that space with xCloud. However, some eagle-eyed viewers couldn't help but look past Spencer during the stream and instead focus on what was behind him on a nearby shelf. As Twitter user @Wario64 correctly pointed out, Spencer had a Kojima Projections Ludens figurine on display, despite the fact that Kojima Productions has yet to release a game on an Xbox console. Of course, this revelation raised all sorts of questions on Twitter.

Could Death Stranding — a game by Kojima Productions — be making its way to Xbox at some point? Is Microsoft hinting at a potential acquisition of Kojima Productions in the future? Some dug into Spencer's background even further and identified other things that could be interpreted as clues. One Twitter user found what appeared to be a copy of Life is Strange: Before the Storm on Spencer's shelf, and wondered if perhaps Microsoft might try to buy the studio behind that, too.

There could be a more reasonable explanation for all of Phil Spencer's gaming-related knick-knacks, though, and it's this: the man is just a fan of video games. As some pointed out, Spencer also had a Nintendo Switch on his shelf during the stream, and that doesn't necessarily mean the Xbox crew is trying to acquire Nintendo. As Twitter user @Vascillia wrote with regard to the Ludens figurine, "I don't think it means anything other than the man is a great representative of gaming culture and has great taste." It could just be that Phil Spencer is simply a fan of the work that happens at Kojima Productions, and he wanted to show Kojima and his team some love with a collectible.

Or – maybe there is more to it. Fans will just have to wait and see.