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News Xbox King Phil Spencer Bows Out As Asha Sharma Grabs The Controller, Sarah Bond Exits

marees

marees

Platinum Member

Phil Spencer isn’t retiring as the chief of Xbox ‘anytime soon’​

Spencer has headed up Microsoft’s Xbox efforts since 2014.
by Jay Peters and Tom Warren
Jul 3, 2025, 1:10 AM GMT+5:30

Microsoft says that Phil Spencer, Microsoft Gaming CEO and the head of Xbox, isn’t retiring “anytime soon.” The company has responded to rumors of Spencer’s retirement, which have spread online today following Microsoft’s major layoffs.

“Phil is not retiring anytime soon,” says Kari Perez, head of Xbox communications, in a statement to The Verge. The denial comes after Call of Duty leaker GhostOfHope claimed “Phil Spencer will be retiring from his role as CEO of Microsoft Gaming after the launch of the next generation Xbox” and that Xbox president Sarah Bond would be taking over as CEO of Microsoft Gaming.

While Microsoft’s comment doesn’t address the rumor fully, it makes it clear Spencer isn’t retiring imminently. Separately, Microsoft communications chief, Frank Shaw, took to X to claim that at least part of the rumor was made up.

https://www.theverge.com/news/696922/phil-spencer-xbox-microsoft-gaming-retiring
 
the pressure is forcing some Microsoft veterans to decide whether they want to stay and commit to the mountain of work required.
"You've gotta be asking yourself how much longer you want to do this," the executive added. People familiar with the matter said Nadella is having direct conversations with executives to secure their commitment to the transformation or facilitate their departure.

Nadella's message to Microsoft execs: Get on board with the AI grind or get out​

According to an internal memo, Nadella also started a weekly AI accelerator meeting and corresponding Teams channel to speed the pace of AI work and get more ideas from across the company.

Executives do not present in these new meetings. Instead, lower-level technical employees are encouraged to speak and share what they're seeing from the AI trenches. This is designed to avoid top-down AI leadership, and is intentionally a bit messy and chaotic, according to people familiar with the new approach.

Production function, explained​

Asha Sharma, Microsoft CoreAI product president, who joined in 2024, said the company has shifted its operations dramatically in her short tenure. Nadella's new "production function" is about using AI to radically change how the company creates, builds, and delivers products and services.

When she joined, the AI industry would crank out a big new foundation model roughly every six months. Then, releases happened every six weeks. Today, AI is changing so quickly that it's forcing Microsoft to rethink not just its products but the entire way software is made, Sharma said in an interview arranged by the company.

For decades, software development has worked like an assembly line. You take a set of inputs — people, time, resources — and transform them into output. Scaling production required scaling those inputs.

"AI breaks that relationship," she said.

AI agents, data, and intelligence now act as a new type of scalable unit that can generate software, insights, and decisions without a corresponding increase in engineering hours or budget. That means the marginal cost of creating something new drops dramatically, Sharma explained, and teams can now spend more on "judgment, taste, and problem-solving."

https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-ceo-satya-nadella-ai-revolution-2025-12
 
Asha Sharma takes over immediately as CEO of Microsoft Gaming, bringing an unusual resume for a gaming executive. She spent the past few years heading development for Microsoft's AI enterprise teams, right in the thick of the company's ChatGPT integration push and enterprise AI buildout. Before that, she was COO at Instacart for three years, managing the grocery delivery giant's operations during its explosive pandemic growth. And before Instacart, she spent four years at Meta running the company's messaging apps including WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram Direct.

there's another angle worth considering. Sharma's operational background at Instacart and messaging experience at Meta suggests she knows how to scale platforms and manage massive user bases. Xbox Game Pass, Microsoft's Netflix-for-games subscription service, has been growing but hasn't hit the scale Microsoft hoped for. Someone with Sharma's background in subscription operations and user retention could be exactly what Game Pass needs.

The gaming industry's reaction has been mixed. Developers and Xbox fans are understandably nervous about an outsider taking the reins, especially one without a public track record in gaming.

https://www.techbuzz.ai/articles/microsoft-taps-ai-executive-asha-sharma-to-lead-xbox-gaming
 

Xbox King Phil Spencer Bows Out As Asha Sharma Grabs The Controller, Sarah Bond Exits​


Spencer will stay on in an advisory role through the summer, while Xbox president Sarah Bond has chosen to leave the company.

Why the shake-up matters​

The leadership shuffle follows a rocky period for Microsoft Gaming that has included multiple rounds of layoffs and studio closures over the past year, according to reporting by The Verge. Analysts also point to the choice of an AI product leader to run the division as a sign that Microsoft wants its gaming arm tightly aligned with the company’s broader AI and consumer-product strategy, as reported by Bloomberg. That alignment could reshape where Microsoft spends its gaming dollars and how it defines success in the coming years.

https://hoodline.com/2026/02/xbox-king-phil-spencer-bows-out-as-asha-sharma-grabs-the-controller/

https://twitter.com/x/status/2024990072299311487
 
marees said:

Phil Spencer isn’t retiring as the chief of Xbox ‘anytime soon’​

Spencer has headed up Microsoft’s Xbox efforts since 2014.
by Jay Peters and Tom Warren
Jul 3, 2025, 1:10 AM GMT+5:30

Microsoft says that Phil Spencer, Microsoft Gaming CEO and the head of Xbox, isn’t retiring “anytime soon.” The company has responded to rumors of Spencer’s retirement, which have spread online today following Microsoft’s major layoffs.

“Phil is not retiring anytime soon,” says Kari Perez, head of Xbox communications, in a statement to The Verge. The denial comes after Call of Duty leaker GhostOfHope claimed “Phil Spencer will be retiring from his role as CEO of Microsoft Gaming after the launch of the next generation Xbox” and that Xbox president Sarah Bond would be taking over as CEO of Microsoft Gaming.

While Microsoft’s comment doesn’t address the rumor fully, it makes it clear Spencer isn’t retiring imminently. Separately, Microsoft communications chief, Frank Shaw, took to X to claim that at least part of the rumor was made up.

https://www.theverge.com/news/696922/phil-spencer-xbox-microsoft-gaming-retiring
Click to expand...

Phil Spencer retires — on the 25th anniversary year of Xbox — after 38 years at Microsoft​

Phil Spencer, executive vice president of Gaming for Microsoft Corp., speaks during the company's Xbox event ahead of the E3 Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, California, U.S., in Los Angeles, California, U.S., on Sunday, June 10, 2018. Xbox previewed a flurry of new titles and deals with studios as the video-gaming division of Microsoft looks to compete more intensely with Sony Corp.'s PlayStation and a resurgent Nintendo Co. Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images



In his own email to staff, Spencer confirmed that he informed Nadella last fall of his intention to retire, triggering months of succession planning. He described his 38‑year career—including 12 years leading Xbox—as “the privilege of a lifetime.”

www.windowscentral.com

Xbox shake‑up: Spencer retires, Sarah Bond exits, Asha Sharma takes over

Microsoft has announced a major leadership transition at Xbox. Phil Spencer is retiring after 38 years. Asha Sharma will become CEO of Microsoft Gaming. More ..
www.windowscentral.com www.windowscentral.com
 
original news source

Phil Spencer Retiring, Sarah Bond Booted Out, Matt Booty Promoted as Microsoft AI Exec Asha Sharma Named New Xbox Boss – EXCLUSIVE​

Spencer’s run with Xbox ends just months shy of the brand’s 25th anniversary.​

By Ryan Mccaffrey

Updated: Feb. 21, 2026, 1:55 a.m.
Related reads:Industry Vets React to Xbox Leaders Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond Departing, Bond Gives Her Statement

Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer, who has been at Microsoft since he joined as an intern in 1988 and with Xbox since the software giant launched its first console in 2001, is retiring, sources familiar with the matter who are not authorized to speak publicly confirmed to IGN. Spencer’s retirement is effective on Monday, February 23. Meanwhile, Xbox President Sarah Bond, long thought by many both inside and outside of Microsoft to be Spencer’s heir apparent, has resigned. The new CEO of Microsoft Gaming will be Asha Sharma, currently the President of Microsoft’s CoreAI product. Finally, Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty is being promoted to Chief Content Officer and will work closely with Sharma.

in.ign.com

Phil Spencer Retiring, Sarah Bond Out, Matt Booty Promoted as Microsoft AI Exec Asha Sharma Named New Xbox Boss – EXCLUSIVE

Spencer’s run with Xbox ends just months shy of the brand’s 25th anniversary.
in.ign.com in.ign.com
 
marees said:
the pressure is forcing some Microsoft veterans to decide whether they want to stay and commit to the mountain of work required.
"You've gotta be asking yourself how much longer you want to do this," the executive added. People familiar with the matter said Nadella is having direct conversations with executives to secure their commitment to the transformation or facilitate their departure.

Nadella's message to Microsoft execs: Get on board with the AI grind or get out​

According to an internal memo, Nadella also started a weekly AI accelerator meeting and corresponding Teams channel to speed the pace of AI work and get more ideas from across the company.

Executives do not present in these new meetings. Instead, lower-level technical employees are encouraged to speak and share what they're seeing from the AI trenches. This is designed to avoid top-down AI leadership, and is intentionally a bit messy and chaotic, according to people familiar with the new approach.

Production function, explained​

Asha Sharma, Microsoft CoreAI product president, who joined in 2024, said the company has shifted its operations dramatically in her short tenure. Nadella's new "production function" is about using AI to radically change how the company creates, builds, and delivers products and services.

When she joined, the AI industry would crank out a big new foundation model roughly every six months. Then, releases happened every six weeks. Today, AI is changing so quickly that it's forcing Microsoft to rethink not just its products but the entire way software is made, Sharma said in an interview arranged by the company.

For decades, software development has worked like an assembly line. You take a set of inputs — people, time, resources — and transform them into output. Scaling production required scaling those inputs.

"AI breaks that relationship," she said.

AI agents, data, and intelligence now act as a new type of scalable unit that can generate software, insights, and decisions without a corresponding increase in engineering hours or budget. That means the marginal cost of creating something new drops dramatically, Sharma explained, and teams can now spend more on "judgment, taste, and problem-solving."

https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-ceo-satya-nadella-ai-revolution-2025-12
Click to expand...

Nadella apparently has a degree in computer science, so the thing that puzzles me is why don't these people lead from the front? "This is what I achieved with an AI-assisted project I've been working on", after engineers have reviewed the results and found them to be good, etc.

It seems to me like MS is setting themselves up for a massive employee departure and if AI doesn't work out so well then those are bridges burned with the potential vastly inflated re-hiring costs.
 
I recall Microsft proper observing they'd like to see Xbox operations achieve a least a 30% profit margin, which is still well below the ~40% their non gaming operations.

As a gamer, I may find that goal unrealistic and even undesirable, since, as a consumer, I just want great games to play. However, that surely isn't Nadella's perspective, and certainly not that of his BOD and shareholders. After 25 years, they probably think it's time for the gaming division to earn its own keep or be spun off. We're starting to see Xbox Capex especially after their Activision purchase become a topic curing their earnings calls.

I'd imagine the entire Microsoft brass are of the opinion Xbox needs to reduce its operating cost while expanding revenue (monetization), and the best way to do that is reducing labor costs, scale their direct gaming consumer market penetration and downsize non-productive & underperforming departments.

No idea if the new CEO (Asha?) Is up to the task, but even if she fails, it'll justify Natella getting raid of gaming operations. In the latter, he or they could probably just use Spencer or Bond as a scapegoat, e.g., we couldn't fix some of the errors, etc.
 

Inside Microsoft’s big Xbox leadership shake-up​

268364_Inside_Microsoft’s_big_Xbox_leadership_shakeup_CVirginia

Tom Warren is a senior editor and author of Notepad, who has been covering all things Microsoft, PC, and tech for over 20 years.

Spencer’s decision led to months of careful successor planning. It was announced to the world on Friday, but it was supposed to be today. Microsoft was forced to announce early because it started to leak and IGN was planning to run a story, according to sources familiar with the situation.

That kicked off a day of chaos, where teams inside Xbox were hearing the news first through reporters and news outlets, instead of via internal memos. The team running Sarah Bond’s social media accounts was so unprepared that a LinkedIn post inviting people to provide feedback about Xbox accessibility features went live just before her departure was announced. It sat there for hours, until Bond’s team eventually posted her own memo.

Microsoft executives shared four memos with Xbox teams on Friday, but only Phil Spencer mentioned Bond. Satya Nadella, Microsoft Gaming EVP Matt Booty, and new Microsoft Gaming CEO Asha Sharma all had kind words for Spencer, but no mention of Bond. Even Bond’s own memo to her teams didn’t arrive until hours after the announcement and wasn’t part of Microsoft’s blog.


Six months after Bond’s promotion, Xbox executive Kareem Choudhry, who reported directly to Bond, departed Microsoft and triggered another shake-up of some teams inside Xbox. Choudhry was key to Xbox’s backward compatibility support and helped bring Xbox Cloud Gaming to life as xCloud in 2019.

Just weeks after Choudhry departed, former Xbox chief marketing officer Jerret West also left Microsoft in June 2024. That meant the Xbox marketing team was now reporting directly to Bond. A month later, Microsoft delivered a marketing campaign that signalled people didn’t need to buy an Xbox console anymore. The message was that “you don’t need an Xbox to play Xbox,” because games were available through Xbox Cloud Gaming on TVs.

This was all part of the “Xbox everywhere” strategy that Bond had been pursuing, a vision to move the Xbox brand beyond its roots in console hardware. Months later the “This is an Xbox” campaign launched, with commercials that positioned a phone or a tablet as an Xbox instead of just a console. It was a confusing campaign, and I’m told it offended many Xbox employees internally.

“This is an Xbox” also debuted months after Bond appeared on stage at the Bloomberg Technology Summit and announced an Xbox mobile gaming store that was supposed to launch in July 2024. It still doesn’t exist almost two years later. Although attempts to redefine Xbox were clearly tied to the mobile store efforts, Microsoft still went ahead with “This is an Xbox” after the store was delayed.



www.theverge.com

Inside Microsoft’s big Xbox leadership shake-up

Microsoft has a new gaming CEO
www.theverge.com www.theverge.com
 

Report: Former Xbox President Sarah Bond's direction "offended" employees — "This is an Xbox" marketing campaign deemed failure​

News
By Michael Hoglund published 38 minutes ago
With Phil Spencer's departure, Xbox employees are supposedly relieved that the President of Xbox has left as well.

I want to add that clearly, Xbox's higher-ups were okay with each and every idea that was pushed forward, as they all had the final say. Both Phil Spencer and Satya Nadella played a part in this and clearly gave the process their stamp of approval.

This report by Warren only highlights that "Xbox Everywhere" was her idea, not the multiplatform push or other aspects. I've seen some speculation that this is a potential "hit piece" by higher-ups at Microsoft in attempts to divert blame away from the brand — could that be true?

One thing's for sure, it's not fair for Sarah Bond to be taking all the blame, even if this was ultimately her marketing decision. Others in the chain of command, at the end of the day, are there to say yes or no to decisions that don't otherwise align with the brand.

 
marees said:

Report: Former Xbox President Sarah Bond's direction "offended" employees — "This is an Xbox" marketing campaign deemed failure​

News
By Michael Hoglund published 38 minutes ago
With Phil Spencer's departure, Xbox employees are supposedly relieved that the President of Xbox has left as well.

I want to add that clearly, Xbox's higher-ups were okay with each and every idea that was pushed forward, as they all had the final say. Both Phil Spencer and Satya Nadella played a part in this and clearly gave the process their stamp of approval.

This report by Warren only highlights that "Xbox Everywhere" was her idea, not the multiplatform push or other aspects. I've seen some speculation that this is a potential "hit piece" by higher-ups at Microsoft in attempts to divert blame away from the brand — could that be true?

One thing's for sure, it's not fair for Sarah Bond to be taking all the blame, even if this was ultimately her marketing decision. Others in the chain of command, at the end of the day, are there to say yes or no to decisions that don't otherwise align with the brand.

Click to expand...
good points below

https://twitter.com/x/status/2025998650783203608
 
must read interview

The person who I feel worst for is Sarah Bond, who was more than capable from a leadership standpoint. Super cool, actual gamer. I really like Sarah Bond. This is a crappy day for her. I just want to tell her that I’m thinking of her and that she’s awesome.​

What an Xbox founder thinks of the new Xbox CEO | Seamus Blackley interview​


https://gamesbeat.com/what-an-xbox-founder-thinks-of-the-new-xbox-ceo-seamus-blackley-interview/

Xbox will be "sunsetted" under new CEO, original co-founder expects: "Her job is going to be as a palliative care doctor who slides Xbox gently into the night"​

News
By Austin Wood published 11 hours ago
Microsoft's pivot to AI has well and truly reached Xbox, OG console designer reasons


https://twitter.com/x/status/2026035957254766976
 
Last edited:

Billions of dollars later and still nobody knows what an Xbox is​

There’s new leadership in charge at Xbox, but no clear sign of where the division is heading.
by Andrew Webster
Feb 24, 2026, 2:00 AM GMT+5:30


even with all of those games, Game Pass hit a plateau; Microsoft announced that it hit 34 million subscribers in 2024, but there hasn’t been an update since then. Even while offering the service at a subsidized price that made Game Pass relatively affordable, it became clear the audience for a subscription like this wasn’t as large as Microsoft had anticipated. Back in 2022, Spencer hoped to hit 100 million subscribers by 2030. That seems increasingly unlikely now.

Meanwhile, the acquisition spree has had devastating effects. Thousands have been laid off as part of Activision’s integration into Microsoft, while a pair of Bethesda studios were shuttered for good. Games were canceled, and even successful studios like Forza developer Turn 10 were hit hard. Meanwhile, on the business side, the focus on Game Pass also messed up one of most consistent streams of revenue in video games: selling a Call of Duty every year. Putting the shooter series on Game Pass reportedly led to $300 million in lost sales. Game Pass keeps getting more expensive for consumers, and it’s unclear if it’s recouping the losses of selling games directly.

 

What Does “Sunsetting” Xbox Look Like Anyway?​

Daniel Sims – February 27, 2026

When you think about it, a traditional PlayStation-style console never fit Microsoft. Microsoft is a software and services company. They’ve never been huge on hard consumer products.

A box that does one thing and locks its content to a walled garden was never Microsoft’s style. They had an advantage in those early 360 years because their development environment brought western developers in right when the Japanese developers that made PlayStation what it was were stumbling, which is how they got Gears of War, Oblivion, BioShock, Mass Effect, and Call of Duty 2.

PC is one of the only places where gaming is still growing, so maybe Microsoft thinks that’s where they can grow. At the very least, it might help them get into regions where Xbox and consoles in general have struggled: Eastern Europe, Asia (outside Japan), maybe even China (which is also where a good chunk of the growth is happening). Wrapping console and PC together might also just help Microsoft stand out from Sony and Nintendo.

If pre-built Windows PCs become attractive living-room devices, with or without a flagship “Xbox” leading the way, is that killing Microsoft’s “console” business or just redefining it?

the most likely route forward for Microsoft is subsuming Xbox into PC because it’s the logical way to try to block Valve from potentially doing to Microsoft what Microsoft did to IBM in the 80s. IBM pretty much built the PC paradigm we’re still working with now like 40 years ago, but Microsoft and other companies took it from them by building consumer products people wanted, and now IBM is just an enterprise company now. They don’t make much of anything that directly faces consumers.

Since the iPhone and iPad started the next era of consumer computing, Windows has become a digital pickup truck. People mostly just use it for work… and gaming. The problem is, Valve became the shepherd of PC gaming and now might be taking that away from Microsoft.

SteamOS already runs Windows games through a compatibility layer on the Asus ROG Xbox Ally better than Windows 11 does. If those RDNA 5 “console PCs” come out and run games better on SteamOS or Bazzite than they do on Windows, Microsoft might be cooked. PC game developers already like Steam more than the Windows Store.

noplatform.wordpress.com

What Does “Sunsetting” Xbox Look Like Anyway?

Microsoft replacing the heads of Xbox with a former AI executive seems to have everybody thinking the company is getting ready to sunset the whole division. I don’t think that’s the imm…
noplatform.wordpress.com noplatform.wordpress.com
 
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