Industry Vets React to Xbox Leaders Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond Departing, Bond Gives Her Statement

In an exclusive story, we reported that Xbox brag and Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer is retiring and Xbox president Sarah Bond is leaving her position. Consequently, president of Microsoft's CoreAI merchandise Asha Sharma is taking implicit arsenic CEO of Xbox with Matt Booty moving up to enforcement vice president and CCO of Xbox. This shake-up successful Xbox enactment was a astonishment to galore and sent waves crossed the gaming manufacture from erstwhile Xbox execs to manufacture veterans alike. We compiled immoderate of the statements made online coming retired of the quality from cardinal individuals, including what Sarah Bond's had to accidental upon leaving the Xbox brand.

Bond went to LinkedIn to springiness her connection connected her departure and the enactment changes astatine Xbox, sharing the enactment she sent to colleagues internally:

Sharing with gratitude the enactment I sent to my squad today. Grateful to our players, developers, partners, and team. Forever a instrumentality of Xbox. 💚
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Hi team,I cognize there’s a batch of quality to instrumentality successful today.I’m incredibly arrogant of what we’ve built unneurotic implicit the past eight-plus years. PC and unreality gaming are increasing faster than ever, our adjacent console is good underway, and unneurotic we’ve helped laic the instauration for a much unfastened gaming level that spans devices and reaches players astir the world.When we announced our volition to get Activision Blizzard successful 2022, I committed to helping pb Xbox done what would beryllium a captious play of change. Over the past 4 years, we’ve navigated that infinitesimal unneurotic and positioned the concern for what comes next. We took connected immoderate of the biggest challenges this enactment has ever faced and did it arsenic 1 team.With that, I’ve decided this is the close clip for maine to instrumentality my adjacent step, some personally and professionally. We’re surviving done a transformative technological epoch that volition signifier the adjacent procreation of our industry, and I’m energized by what’s ahead. This infinitesimal besides presents a unsocial accidental for caller eyes and caller enactment to usher the squad into its adjacent chapter. I’ve had the privilege of spending clip with Asha implicit the past fewer weeks arsenic we’ve planned for this transition, and I’ve seen firsthand her heavy committedness to our players, developers, and brand. She brings heavy exertion and commerce experience, on with a beardown way grounds of gathering and scaling platforms that the satellite uses. Xbox deserves this. I’m excited to spot her pb this adjacent section for our team. I’ll stay connected arsenic a Special Advisor to Asha to assistance guarantee a creaseless modulation and acceptable the enactment up for continued success.I privation to convey Phil for his mentorship and relationship implicit the years. He’s been a accordant champion of this concern and the radical who marque it what it is, and I’ve learned a large woody from the mode helium leads done some accidental and challenge. I’m grateful for his spot and enactment passim my clip connected the team. I besides privation to convey Satya for his sponsorship and enactment passim my clip astatine Microsoft.As I hole to motion off, I’ve been reflecting connected 3 elemental questions I’ve tried to usage to usher my days:Did I bring my best?
Did I assistance idiosyncratic other succeed?
Did I bash my champion work?I anticipation the reply has been yes for galore of you. It’s been a privilege to enactment alongside this team.Always,
Sarah

On LinkedIn, Peter Moore, erstwhile VP of amusement astatine Microsoft and longtime CEO and EVP astatine Electronic Arts:

News that Phil Spencer has stepped distant marks the extremity of a important section for Microsoft Gaming and successful peculiar Xbox.It is easy, particularly successful today’s climate, to critique decisions, statement strategy, and justice outcomes with the payment of hindsight. What is harder is to prolong enactment implicit decades successful an manufacture that reinvents itself each fewer years. Of that, I’m lone excessively painfully aware. Phil did that.From the aboriginal days of Xbox done console transitions, workplace acquisitions, level wars, and the emergence of subscription and cloud, helium was a dependable beingness successful what has often been a turbulent environment. Gaming astatine Microsoft has ne'er been a quiescent assignment. Expectations were immense. Competition was relentless. The spotlight was constant.I had the privilege of moving alongside him during formative years for the business. What I saw was committedness to players, loyalty to teams, and resilience erstwhile the sound was loudest. Phil was,and is, a gamer astatine bosom and that showed successful everything helium did during my clip with him. Leadership successful this manufacture means making imperfect decisions with incomplete information, nether bonzer pressure. It means lasting successful beforehand erstwhile things spell wrong, and sharing recognition erstwhile they spell right. That is not casual work.Whatever opinions swirl contiguous (and I spot the boo birds are retired successful flocks) past tends to beryllium kinder and much balanced. Sustained publication matters. Building institutions matters. Showing up twelvemonth aft twelvemonth matters. A agelong vocation successful gaming, peculiarly astatine the standard of Microsoft, deserves respect.Wishing Phil bully luck for immoderate comes next. All the best, mate.

Reggie Fils-Aimé, erstwhile president of Nintendo of America:

Congrats @XboxP3 connected a fantastic career. The games manufacture is amended due to the fact that of your contributions. I look guardant to celebrating this milestone with you. https://t.co/uJGjlKJJ2c

— Reggie Fils-Aimé (@Reggie) February 20, 2026

Greg Canessa, erstwhile GM and creator of the Xbox Live Arcade:

Congratulations @XboxP3 connected an astonishing tally starring @Xbox. I person thing but respect and admiration for what you accomplished, and the manufacture is amended disconnected for you having been successful it.

— Greg Canessa (@gregcanessa) February 21, 2026

Jason Ronald, VP of Xbox gaming devices and ecosystem, person connected improvement of the Xbox Series X and S:

— Jason Ronald (@jronald) February 20, 2026

Sean Murray, manager astatine Hello Games, developers down No Man's Sky:

🫡 https://t.co/pD5IhojR7N

— Sean Murray (@NoMansSky) February 21, 2026

Larry Hryb, wide known arsenic Major Nelson, erstwhile main programme manager and elder manager of communications for Xbox:

Hey @XboxP3 I americium not texting you now....as I cognize your telephone is blowing up similar mine. Let's chat erstwhile you travel up for air.

— Larry Hryb, Gamer Emeritus 📱⌨️🖱️🎮 (@majornelson) February 20, 2026

An extremity of an epoch indeed. https://t.co/inQTwhOKB7

— Larry Hryb, Gamer Emeritus 📱⌨️🖱️🎮 (@majornelson) February 20, 2026

Phil Spencer himself reflected connected the 38 years helium spent moving astatine Microsoft arsenic good and we broke down his connection successful a abstracted story. He oversaw initiatives specified arsenic Xbox Game Pass, the launches of the Xbox One X and the Xbox Series consoles, and respective acquisitions of improvement teams specified arsenic Bethesda Game Studios, Playground Games, Ninja Theory, Obsidian Entertainment, and much arsenic good arsenic the industry-shaking $69 cardinal acquisition of Activision-Blizzard-King. We besides looked astatine caller Xbox caput Asha Sharma's connection astir her imaginativeness for the level and her thoughts connected AI moving forward.

Be definite to cheque retired our discussions connected the imaginable interaction the enactment changes volition person connected the Xbox level and our breakdown of the quality connected IGN's Daily Fix. And drawback our play Xbox podcast Unlocked wherever we've analyzed what a next-gen Xbox looks similar and support up with the year's biggest games.