Major personnel changes have taken place in Microsoft's gaming division, which came as a surprise even to some company employees. Along with the departure of Microsoft Gaming head Phil Spencer, Xbox President Sarah Bond is also leaving the company — a figure many considered Spencer's natural successor.
The reshuffle was officially announced on Friday, although the announcement was originally planned for later. According to sources, Microsoft was forced to speed up the publication due to a leak of information and an upcoming article from the press.
As a result, chaos ensued within the division: employees learned the news from the media before internal memos. The team responsible for Sarah Bond's social media was not ready — her page on the business social network for some time featured a post about Xbox, published just before the announcement of her departure.
Sarah Bond took over as President of Xbox in October 2023 — immediately after the completion of the acquisition of Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion. She played a key role in coordinating the deal with regulators and gradually became the public face of Xbox, while Spencer focused on integrating the new giant asset.
However, within the company, according to sources, her strategy raised more and more questions. Bond actively promoted the concept of "Xbox everywhere", shifting the focus from consoles to cloud technologies and mobile platforms. The marketing campaign "This is an Xbox", which positioned smartphones and TVs as an alternative to the console, caused bewilderment among both the audience and employees.
In addition, the Xbox mobile store she announced, which was supposed to launch in July 2024, has still not appeared. Against the backdrop of these steps, revenue from Xbox hardware has been falling for three consecutive financial years, and the trend is expected to continue in 2026.
Many current and former Xbox employees, according to sources, welcomed Bond's departure with relief. She is praised for her ability to build partnerships, but noted for her tough management style and intolerance of criticism of the strategy.