Some big changes were announced at Microsoft on Friday with the passing of the torch for multiple key leadership positions at Xbox. It’s been nearly four decades since Phil Spencer joined Microsoft as an intern and rose through the ranks to head the Xbox gaming division as its CEO. Rumors of Spencer’s exit began circulating towards the end of last summer, and now they have become fact. The official announcement was revealed on Microsoft’s blog, where CEO Satya Nadella and Phil Spencer shared the news of the big changes happening.
“Last fall, I shared with Satya that I was thinking about stepping back and starting the next chapter of my life. From that moment, we aligned on approaching this transition with intention, ensuring stability, and strengthening the foundation we’ve built.”
– Phil Spencer
“When I walked through Microsoft’s doors as an intern in June of 1988, I could never have imagined the products I’d help build, the players and customers we’d serve, or the extraordinary teams I’d be lucky enough to join,” added Spencer, who also let on that another change was taking place. Xbox President and COO Sarah Bond was also leaving Microsoft. She joined Microsoft in 2017 and became part of Xbox’s leadership team in 2023. Most recently, she’d been in Asia promoting Xbox’s partnerships with gaming studios overseas. Bond has shared on her LinkedIn page that she will remain as a special adviser to the incoming CEO and Executive Vice President of Microsoft Gaming, Asha Sharma, to “ensure a smooth transition and set the organization up for continued success.“
“I’ve had the privilege of spending time with Asha over the last few weeks as we’ve planned for this transition, and I’ve seen firsthand her deep commitment to our players, developers, and brand. She brings deep technology and commerce experience, along with a strong track record of building and scaling platforms that the world uses.”
– Sarah Bond
Sharma, who previously headed Microsoft’s CoreAI platform, has said to Variety that she wants to “earn the right to be trusted by players and developers,” and “AI has long been part of gaming and will continue to be,” but that “great stories are created by humans.“
The new Xbox CEO also sent out an internal memo to the gaming division stating that her goals are to make great games, see a return of Xbox, and the future of play. Matt Booty moves up the ladder to become Chief Content Officer and also an Executive Vice President. MS CEO Satya Nadella did not hold back praise for the new leadership, nor Phil’s contribution to the transition process.
“Together, Asha and Matt have the right combination of consumer product leadership and gaming depth to push our platform innovation and content pipeline forward. Last year, Phil Spencer made the decision to retire from the company, and since then we’ve been talking about succession planning. I want to thank Phil for his extraordinary leadership and partnership.”
– Satya Nadella, Microsoft Chariman and CEO
All of these changes are happening as Xbox is celebrating its 25th anniversary. From a new console being in development to upcoming game releases and expanding its Xbox OS/UI among mobile and desktop hardware, and changes to Xbox Game Pass, a lot is going on at Microsoft’s gaming division. It will be interesting to see what changes this new leadership brings in the next era.