Xbox head Phil Spencer leaves Microsoft after nearly 40 years

The head of Microsoft Gaming, which includes the Xbox brand, Phil Spencer announced his departure from Microsoft. He has worked at the company since 1988. The Verge reported on the changes in the leadership of the gaming division. Together with Spencer, Xbox President Sarah Bond is leaving the company.

Decision to resign and transition period

The Microsoft CEO announced the personnel changes in an internal message to employees. According to him, Spencer decided to end his career last year. Nadella thanked him for 38 years of work at the company, noting that the last 12 years were dedicated to developing the gaming business.

Until the summer of 2026, Spencer will act as an advisor to the new head of Microsoft Gaming to ensure a gradual transfer of authority and maintain continuity in management.

New Guide and Strategic Directions

Asha Sharma, previously head of the CoreAI division responsible for developments in the field, has been appointed as the new CEO of Microsoft Gaming. She had already worked at Microsoft, but left the company in 2013. Sharma returned in 2024 after working experience at Meta and Instacart.

In an address to employees, Sharma outlined the main areas of her work in her new position. Among them are the development of high-quality gaming content, strengthening Xbox’s position in the market and forming a long-term strategy for the brand. She emphasized the importance of the console as the foundation of the Xbox ecosystem and stated her intention to continue supporting studios and partners.

Phil Spencer began his career at Microsoft as an intern in 1988, working on products such as Encarta entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline”>Microsoft Money and whitespace In 2001, he joined the Xbox team, and in 2014 he headed the gaming division. Under his leadership, the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S consoles were launched, the Xbox Game Pass service was actively developed, and major acquisitions were also implemented class=”hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline”>ZeniMax Media and Activision Blizzard.

In his farewell address, Spencer called his years at the company “an epic journey and the privilege of a lifetime,” emphasizing the significance of the journey for himself and the team.