Phil Spencer Retires From Xbox And Sarah Bond Resigns As Microsoft’s AI Guy Takes Over

After more than a decade in charge of Xbox, Phil Spencer has announced he is retiring from his position at the top of Microsoft’s Gaming Division in an exclusive interview with IGN.

Spencer has been with Microsoft since 1988 and has been with the Xbox brand since 2001, helping to launch the original console against the PS2 and GameCube 25 years ago. He was promoted to the head of Xbox in 2014 shortly after the launch of the Xbox One, and has remained a face of the brand for 12 years, operating as the CEO of Microsoft Gaming since 2022.

The departure comes after a long struggle to put Xbox back on top of the console gaming ecosystem. Alongside milestones like Game Pass and acquiring Activision Blizzard there have also been plenty of game delays, cancelations, layoffs, and studio closures. Soft sales of the Xbox Series X/S compared to the PlayStation 5 and Switch in the most recent generation pushed Microsoft to go multiplatform, doing what was once unthinkable and bringing Halo to Sony’s rival gaming platform. 

The Xbox division has reportedly been under significant pressure from Microsoft to reach abnormally high profit margins, which some speculate has played a part in the rise in Xbox prices and subscription services in recent years.

This is a developing story…