Former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop selected to oversee Xbox

After choosing Satya Nadella to replace Steve Ballmer as CEO, Microsoft has elected to appoint Stephen Elop as head of its Devices and Studios division. The news comes from an internal memo posted over on TechCrunch. Microsoft's Devices and Studios wing oversees Xbox, Surface, entertainment and games.

Elop was the former CEO of Nokia, which Microsoft announced it intended to purchase last year. Elop will replace Julie Larson-Green, who will shift roles from hardware over to Microsoft's My Life and Work team, a subdivision of the Applications and Services Group. Prior to her appointment as head of Xbox last year, Larson-Green was in charge of all Windows products.

At one point, Elop was in the running to replace Ballmer at Microsoft, at which point insiders claim he was considering selling off the Xbox division. Elop served as CEO of Nokia for three years.