{"id":604537,"date":"2026-02-20T23:47:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T23:47:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/604537\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T23:47:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T23:47:13","slug":"phil-spencer-exits-as-xbox-ceo-microsoft-gaming-shake-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/604537\/","title":{"rendered":"Phil Spencer Exits as Xbox CEO: Microsoft Gaming Shake-Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tPhil Spencer<\/a> is retiring as Microsoft Gaming<\/a> CEO after nearly 40 years with the Xbox<\/a> owner and 12 years in his current role. He will stay on in an adviser capacity until later in the year.<\/p>\n

\n\tAsha Sharma<\/a>, most recently president of product development for Microsoft\u2019s CoreAI division, will be replacing Spencer as the new chief and executive vice president of Microsoft Gaming. Prior to joining Microsoft in 2024, Sharma was chief operating officer of Instacart and previously vice president of product at Meta.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs part of the shake-up that includes Spencer\u2019s retirement and Sharma\u2019s promotion, Microsoft Gaming will also see Xbox president Sarah Bond exit the company and Matt Booty promoted to chief content officer.<\/p>\n

\n\tMicrosoft Gaming consists of nearly 40 development studios, including Activision, Bethesda, Blizzard, King, Mojang and Xbox Game Studios \u2013 which are responsible for top IPs including \u201cCall of Duty,\u201d \u201cCandy Crush,\u201d \u201cDiablo,\u201d \u201cThe Elder Scrolls,\u201d \u201cFallout,\u201d \u201cHalo,\u201d \u201cMinecraft\u201d and \u201cWorld of Warcraft\u201d \u2014 as well as the Xbox gaming console platform and services across console, PC, cloud and mobile.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhen I walked through Microsoft\u2019s doors as an intern in June of 1988, I could never have imagined the products I\u2019d help build, the players and customers we\u2019d serve, or the extraordinary teams I\u2019d be lucky enough to join. It\u2019s been an epic ride and truly the privilege of a lifetime,\u201d Spencer said in a memo to Microsoft Gaming staff Friday. \u201cLast fall, I shared with [Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella] 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\u2019ve built. Xbox has always been more than a business. It\u2019s a vibrant community of players, creators, and teams who care deeply about what we build and how we build it. And it deserves a thoughtful, deliberate plan for the road ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tMicrosoft Gaming\u2019s Asha Sharma and Matt Booty\/Microsoft Gaming<\/p>\n

\n\tSpencer continued: \u201cToday marks an exciting new chapter for Microsoft Gaming as Asha Sharma steps into the role of CEO, and I want to be the first to welcome her to this incredible team. Working with her over the past several months has given me tremendous confidence. She brings genuine curiosity, clarity and a deep commitment to understanding players, creators, and the decisions that shape our future. We know this is an important moment for our fans, partners, and team, and we\u2019re committed to getting it right. I\u2019ll remain in an advisory role through the summer to support a smooth handoff.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn his own internal note, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told employees: \u201cI am long on gaming and its role at the center of our consumer ambition, and as we look ahead, I\u2019m excited to share that Asha Sharma will become Executive Vice President and CEO, Microsoft Gaming, reporting to me. Over the last two years at Microsoft, and previously as Chief Operating Officer at Instacart and a Vice President at Meta, Asha has helped build and scale services that reach billions of people and support thriving consumer and developer ecosystems. She brings deep experience building and growing platforms, aligning business models to long-term value, and operating at global scale, which will be critical in leading our gaming business into its next era of growth.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn her first message to the Xbox team following the announcement of her promotion, Sharma wrote she feels \u201ctwo things at once: humility and urgency\u201d in taking on the role of CEO. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cHumility because this team has built something extraordinary over decades,\u201d Sharma said. \u201cUrgency because gaming is in a period of rapid change, and we need to move with clarity and conviction. I am stepping into work shaped by generations of artists, engineers, designers, writers, musicians, operators and more who create worlds that have brought joy and deep personal meaning to hundreds of millions of players. The level of craft here is exceptional, and it is amplified by Xbox, which was founded in the belief that the power of games connect people and push the industry forward. Thank you to Phil for his leadership, and to every studio, platform, and operations team that built this foundation. We are stewards of some of the most loved stories and characters in entertainment and bring players and creators together around the fun and community of gaming in entirely new ways.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSee Spencer\u2019s memo to staff in full below.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen I walked through Microsoft\u2019s doors as an intern in June of 1988, I could never have imagined the products I\u2019d help build, the players and customers we\u2019d serve, or the extraordinary teams I\u2019d be lucky enough to join. It\u2019s been an epic ride and truly the privilege of a lifetime.<\/p>\n

\n\tLast 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\u2019ve built. Xbox has always been more than a business. It\u2019s a vibrant community of players, creators, and teams who care deeply about what we build and how we build it. And it deserves a thoughtful, deliberate plan for the road ahead.<\/p>\n

\n\tToday marks an exciting new chapter for Microsoft Gaming as Asha Sharma steps into the role of CEO, and I want to be the first to welcome her to this incredible team. Working with her over the past several months has given me tremendous confidence. She brings genuine curiosity, clarity and a deep commitment to understanding players, creators, and the decisions that shape our future. We know this is an important moment for our fans, partners, and team, and we\u2019re committed to getting it right. I\u2019ll remain in an advisory role through the summer to support a smooth handoff.<\/p>\n

\n\tI\u2019m also grateful for the strength of our studios organization. Matt Booty and our studios teams continue to build an incredible portfolio, and I have full confidence in the leadership and creative momentum across our global studios. I want to congratulate Matt on his promotion to EVP and Chief Content Officer.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs part of this transition, Sarah Bond has decided to leave Microsoft to begin a new chapter. Sarah has been instrumental during a defining period for Xbox, shaping our platform strategy, expanding Game Pass and cloud gaming, supporting new hardware launches, and guiding some of the most significant moments in our history. I\u2019m grateful for her partnership and the impact she\u2019s had, and I wish her the very best in what comes next.<\/p>\n

\n\tMost of all, to everyone in Microsoft Gaming, I want to say \u201cthank you\u201d. I\u2019ve learned so much from this team and community, grown alongside you, and been continually inspired by the creativity, courage, and care you bring to players, creators, and to one another every day.<\/p>\n

\n\tI\u2019m incredibly proud of what we\u2019ve built together over the last 25 years, and I have complete confidence in all of you and in the opportunities ahead. I\u2019ll be cheering you on in this next chapter as Xbox\u2019s proudest fan and player.<\/p>\n

\n\tPhil<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Phil Spencer is retiring as Microsoft Gaming CEO after nearly 40 years with the Xbox owner and 12…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":604538,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[7],"tags":[198536,28105,28104,158,67,132,68,3768],"class_list":["post-604537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-asha-sharma","tag-microsoft-gaming","tag-phil-spencer","tag-technology","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-xbox"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=604537"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604537\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/604538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=604537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=604537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=604537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}