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Microsoft farewells last Xbox father

Otto Berkes, the last of the four founding fathers of the Xbox, has quietly exited Microsoft.

Berkes blocked queries from the Seattle Times as to his new employer, but did say he'll be joining a company.

The programmer had nothing bad to say about his time at Microsoft, despite heading up a number of promising projects - including an iPad-like tablet years ahead of its time - which were subsequently canceled.

"No regrets, but it's time to move on for me. I'm very proud of what I was able to accomplish here," he said.

Berkes, along with Ted Hase, Seamus Blackley and Kevin Bachus, pushed for Microsoft to develop a console - clearly, a successful move.

The original Xbox launched in 2001. Hase, Blackley and Bachus departed in 2006, 2002 and 2001 respectively.

Ed Fries, the contemporary head of Microsoft's game publishing business, and also often called a "father of Xbox", also left in 2004.

Thanks, Shack.

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Brenna Hillier avatar

Brenna Hillier

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Based in Australia and having come from a lengthy career in the Aussie games media, Brenna worked as VG247's remote Deputy Editor for several years, covering news and events from the other side of the planet to the rest of the team. After leaving VG247, Brenna retired from games media and crossed over to development, working as a writer on several video games.
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