Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer will retire effective Monday, February 23, 2026. The news comes amid major internal leadership changes affecting not only Spencer, but Microsoft as well. xbox President Sarah Bond.
Spencer has been working at Xbox for a long time and first joined Microsoft in 1998. He became the head of Xbox during the Xbox One generation and attempted to fix what many saw as a disastrous launch following the popularity of the Xbox 360. Under his leadership, achievements include the current Xbox Series X/S generation as well as numerous studio acquisitions.
For a long time, Xbox boss Sarah Bond has been publicly viewed as Phil Spencer's successor. However, Bond officially resigned. Microsoft Gaming's new CEO will be Asha Sharma, who previously served as president of Microsoft CoreAI products. Amid the shuffle, Xbox Game Studios president Matt Booty has been promoted to chief content officer (CCO).
New Xbox Leadership
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CEO of Microsoft Gaming: Asha Sharma
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Chief Content Officer: Matt Booty
In an internal email obtained by IGN, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said, “I want to thank Phil for his outstanding leadership and partnership. During his 38 years at Microsoft, including 12 years leading gaming, Phil has helped transform what we do and how we do it.” Spencer also sent the following email to Microsoft employees:
“Last fall, I shared with Satya that I was thinking about taking a step back and starting the next chapter of my life. From that moment on, we agreed to approach this transition with intention, ensuring stability and strengthening the foundation we've built. Xbox has always been more than a business. It's a vibrant community of players, creators, and teams who care deeply about what we build and how we build it. And it requires thoughtful, deliberate planning for the path forward.”
Spencer went on to reveal that Asha Sharma will become CEO of Microsoft Gaming, explaining that she will continue in an advisory role throughout the summer to “support a smooth handoff.” Sharma is also the former VP of Product and Engineering at Meta, the former COO of Instacart, and a board member at The Home Depot. She hasn't been with Microsoft for long, having joined the company in 2024. In the email, she outlined three commitments to her role as Microsoft Gaming CEO:
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“First of all, it’s a great game. It all starts here.”
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“Second, it’s the return of Xbox. We’re recommitting to our core Xbox fans and players.”
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“Third, the future of play. We are witnessing the reinvention of play.”
Sharma also concluded the note with a promise: “As monetization and AI evolve and impact the future, we will not pursue short-term efficiencies or flood our ecosystem with soulless AI slop. Games are and will always be art. They are made by humans and made with the most innovative technologies we have to offer.”
It's impossible to predict the future, but what Sharma says here may resonate with many gamers. Many people are increasingly concerned about the role of generative AI in video games, and while this isn't a promise to not use genAI at all, it is a promise to ensure Xbox games are high quality. “AI slop” has a specific and somewhat broad meaning.
Overall, this is the latest development in an industry that is under pressure and undergoing numerous changes. The same applies to Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, and all third-party publishers, and we're likely to see more changes in the coming months and years.
- Establishment date
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April 4, 1975
- headquarters
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Redmond, Washington, USA
- CEO
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Satya Nadella
- subsidiary company
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Activision Blizzard, Microsoft Studios, Mojang Studios, Microsoft Game Studios, Xbox Game Studios
