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The Internet Reacts To Microsoft’s Massive Shakeup Of Xbox

News RoomBy 3 Mins Read
The Internet Reacts To Microsoft’s Massive Shakeup Of Xbox

After over 20 years at Xbox, Phil Spencer, the face of the brand for more than a decade, has announced he’s retiring from the company. Sarah Bond, the president at Xbox, is also out and Asha Sharma, the president of Microsoft’s CoreAI product, is taking over as CEO of Microsoft Gaming.

It sounds bleak for Microsoft’s long-struggling gaming brand, though Sharma said in her initial email to employees that her goal was not to flood the Xbox ecosystem with “soulless AI slop.” Is that the truth or just something you say to placate your workers? Only time will tell, but Microsoft has been notoriously pushing for AI integration in its workflow, so do with that information what you will.

Now that Spencer is out, however, the internet is looking back on his tenure at the company, speculating about whether or not he and Bond were forced out of their leadership positions, and wondering what all this means for the future of Xbox. The forecast is not great.

The fact that the only ms/Xbox letter mentioning Sarah Bond is Phil’s, along with the fact that she didn’t release a statement, suggests that this was all actually messy as hell, and the story is going to get out faster than leadership could plan for. Bush league shit.

— Arthur Gies (he/him) (@aegies.bsky.social) 2026-02-20T20:50:01.404Z

I told my grandma Phil Spencer retired and she started sobbing. Through the cascade of tears rolling down her face and hyperventilating she muttered “Co-Pilot please draft an email thanking Phil for his brave service in the console wars”

She then died. Her ashes sprinkled at a data center nearby

— Jesse Vitelli (@mamavitelli.bsky.social) 2026-02-20T20:42:54.934Z

Say what you want, but Phil and Sarah made Xbox into a brand that people actually cared about, a brand that felt human

Then they had the legs taken out from underneath them by upper management

and now have been ejected for the mistakes of others

Just a series of horrible decisions by AI nerds

— Mike Rose (@mikerose.bsky.social) 2026-02-20T21:31:34.596Z

Xbox also posted a small tribute to Spencer, saying that he will always be part of “Team Xbox.”

Spencer will be staying on in an advisory role until the summer, but his retirement will be effective as of Monday, February 23. Whatever happens next remains to be seen, but one thing’s for sure: It’s going to be a weird day for Xbox employees next Monday when the division’s leadership suddenly looks completely different.

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