Larry Hryb, Xbox’s ‘Main Nelson,’ is leaving Microsoft

Larry Hryb, higher generally known as “Main Nelson” in Xbox circles, tweeted at present that he’s leaving Microsoft. Hryb spent a few years as one of the vital prominent public faces of the model as Director of Programming for Xbox Stay. He didn’t state his causes for leaving the corporate however mentioned he plans to step again and work on his profession’s subsequent chapter. The transfer comes as Microsoft tries to close its $68 billion purchase of Activision. “As I take a second and take into consideration all we now have executed collectively, I need to thank the thousands and thousands of avid gamers around the globe who’ve included me as a part of their lives,” Hryb mentioned.

Hryb spent over 20 years with Microsoft, becoming a member of the corporate as editor-in-chief of MSN Music in 2001. However in 2003, when he joined the Xbox division, he discovered his id with the corporate. His public function was a mix of official worker and tremendous fan. His weblog posts, podcasts, interviews, unboxings and different varied updates straddled the road between a advertising and marketing government and a trusted “gamer’s gamer,” serving to followers really feel like they’d one in every of their very own on the within on the gaming behemoth.

Xbox had used him much less as a face of the corporate in recent times, however from no less than the mid-2000s to the mid-2010s, “Main Nelson” was virtually synonymous with the platform. He says he got his gamer handle and public nickname from Larry Hagman’s character within the Sixties sitcom I Dream of Jeannie — after his TiVo really helpful it.

Hryb hasn’t but detailed what his subsequent profession chapter is. Nonetheless, he did observe that The Official Xbox Podcast, which he hosted, will take a hiatus this summer season and return later “in a brand new format.”