Microsoft's Xbox business management line-up underwent a major shake-up this week after Phil Spencer retired and Sarah Bond, who was believed to be his replacement, resigned, according to a report by IGN.
Spencer's position was taken over by Asha Sharma, who previously held the position of President of Microsoft CoreAI, reporting directly to Satya Nadella. Before joining Microsoft, she held the position of COO at Instacart and Vice President at Meta.
Spencer confirmed her retirement after 38 years with Microsoft, where she joined the software giant as an industry intern in 1988. She joined the Xbox team in 2001 before leading it in 2014.
She is as synonymous with Xbox as Ken Kutaragi was with PlayStation. Sarah Bond's decision to resign is somewhat troubling because for the past two years, she has been the new "face" of every Xbox announcement.
Sharma's appointment, which comes with a background in artificial intelligence (AI), is a bit troubling for gamers who believe in the theory that Microsoft is quietly trying to kill the Xbox console. But in his first announcement this morning he made three big commitments to Xbox fans.
First, he reiterated Microsoft's commitment to continue producing games for the console through studios under their umbrella, investing in IP it owns and supporting new ideas and taking risks to produce games in new categories and markets.
Second, he said he would continue to support Xbox for the hardcore fans who have been committed to the console for the past 25 years. Finally, he said he would not flood Xbox with the "AI garbage" that is beginning to spread throughout the video game industry.
