What Happened to Xbox President Sarah Bond? Amid Phil Spencer's Retirement and Asha Sharma's Promotion, Long-Term Protégé Resigns

As the particulate settles connected Microsoft's melodramatic changes astatine the apical of its gaming team, fans are digesting the daze resignation of Xbox President Sarah Bond, aft astir a decennary moving connected the console brand.

Yesterday, IGN exclusively reported that Bond had resigned from her post, contempt agelong being considered to beryllium outgoing Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer's heir apparent. Instead, that occupation went to Asha Sharma, antecedently Microsoft's CoreAI merchandise president.

In the hours since, fans person been speedy to work betwixt the lines of what has been said — and not said — astir Bond's departure, including the belated posting of her ain exit enactment to employees, which arrived immoderate hours aft ceremonial statements from Microsoft brag Satya Nadella, Spencer, Sharma and the newly-promoted Matt Booty.

Indeed, Bond's departure was near to beryllium announced by Microsoft wrong Spencer's ain connection — respective paragraphs beneath the large quality that helium was handing implicit the baton to Sharma. Here's precisely what Spencer wrote:

"As portion of this transition, Sarah Bond has decided to permission Microsoft to statesman a caller chapter. Sarah has been instrumental during a defining play for Xbox, shaping our level strategy, expanding Game Pass and unreality gaming, supporting caller hardware launches, and guiding immoderate of the astir important moments successful our history. I'm grateful for her concern and the interaction she's had, and I privation her the precise champion successful what comes next."

No notation is made of Bond successful statements from Nadella, Sharma oregon Booty, who bash not notation her departure astatine all.

On societal media, seasoned Xbox exec Aaron Greenberg marked yesterday's events with a flurry of lengthy posts, sharing his excitement for Sharma's posting and a agelong connection of acknowledgment to Spencer connected his retirement, pursuing years arsenic colleagues. But Greenberg makes nary notation of Bond oregon her departure, either.

"I’ve decided this is the close clip for maine to instrumentality my adjacent step, some personally and professionally"“

Hours later, Bond did publically merchandise her ain farewell connection — though this clip via LinkedIn. Bond's lengthy connection references the information that it was she who "decided this is the close clip for maine to instrumentality my adjacent step, some personally and professionally," though there's small much mentation arsenic to why.

Bond joined Xbox successful 2017 arsenic Xbox’s firm VP of bizdev and partnerships. She became firm VP of crippled creator acquisition and ecosystem aft that earlier being named President of Xbox successful 2022.

Her afloat enactment connected her departure is below:

IGN has overmuch much connected this story, including the galore farewells from seasoned developers to Phil Spencer, Spencer's idiosyncratic words to the Xbox assemblage pursuing his departure, and Sharma's ain responses to archetypal concerns astir her caller AI enactment and deficiency of gaming manufacture occupation experience.

Image credit: Microsoft

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You tin scope Tom astatine [email protected] oregon find him connected Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social