The management at Xbox was shaken up final week, as Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer and Xbox president Sarah Bond have each left the corporate. Taking on the Xbox model are new Xbox president Asha Sharma and chief content material officer Matt Booty, and the duo has already outlined their plans for the way forward for Xbox–teasing new {hardware} bulletins and a return to the “roots” of Xbox. On the identical time, Sharma has addressed the sneakers she’ll be filling, as she thanked Spencer for main Xbox for over a decade.
“At the moment Matt and I had the prospect to acknowledge Phil Spencer,” Sharma wrote in a social media publish. “Over the previous couple of months, we have talked almost day-after-day about every little thing from {hardware} and technique to creators and culture–and a lot about our youngsters and canines, too. These conversations gave me a entrance row seat to what so lots of you’ve got identified for many years. Phil is a exceptional chief, however much more than that, he is a deeply exceptional human being. When he took over Xbox in 2014, it was a pivotal second. He pushed for backward compatibility as a result of gamers requested for it. He helped deliver Xbox One X to life. He created Recreation Go.”
“And thru all of it, he re-centered our selections round gamers and creators. Plenty of careers get summed up by milestones. Phil’s impression exhibits up in tales. In the creators who felt protected taking dangers, within the groups who did one of the best work of their lives as a result of somebody believed in them, and in gamers throughout generations who felt like Xbox was theirs. I am going to at all times bear in mind this present day. I am proud to be a part of Group Xbox. Now our journey begins.”
Spencer’s quantity two, Bond, has barely been talked about since she resigned from the corporate. A brand new report has claimed that the previous Xbox president was troublesome to work with, and it is claimed that present and former Xbox workers had been relieved to listen to that she was stepping down from her place.
Spencer’s final day at Microsoft was on February 23, the place he’d spent 38 years working. Spencer mentioned that he started planning to depart the corporate final 12 months, telling Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella that he was contemplating “stepping again and beginning the subsequent chapter” of his life. Sharma and Booty are taking up the corporate throughout a tumultuous time following mass layoffs and studio closures. 2026 additionally seems to be a busy 12 months for Microsoft’s gaming division, as its lineup consists of heavy-hitter video games Halo: Marketing campaign Advanced, a Fable reboot, and Gears of Conflict: E-Day, in addition to a number of PlayStation ports, work on a next-generation Xbox console, and plans to have fun the twenty fifth anniversary of Xbox.