Phil Spencer retiring from Microsoft

Hanno Labuschagne

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Phil Spencer retiring from Microsoft

Microsoft named AI executive Asha Sharma to lead its Xbox and gaming business, replacing Phil Spencer, and will recommit to console users after years of developing products for mobile and PC players.

Spencer, who has run the Xbox business since 2014 and was named gaming CEO in 2022 is retiring, the company said.

[Bloomberg]
 
Does not inspire confidence. She is not even a gamer and won't understand the gaming mindset. She has experience from Meta, Instacart, and is a Home Depot board member. They appointed an A.I board slopie, A.I. full game production incoming. Xbox Copilot Pass Ultimate in the works. Nadella has no vision.
 
"Retired" you say.

Is it really a planned retirement when its effective immediately and poor Bond was happily chirping about all thigs Xbox 3 hours prior to being kicked out the door.

Booty goes to AI and the new head comes from AI better get ready for AI boys.

On topic though / good he was the second biggest liar in the industry behind Tod Howard.

It will be better next year guys lmao.
 
I thought Bond was gonna takeover... at least she was a gamer(?)... Satya must've forced their hands...? Rumours strongly suggest that there is still new hardware coming for nextBox, but everything is an XBox so I just dunno WTF is MS planning (besides double-downing on AI) for XB.

Just get Steam on the new hardware, release all the games on Steam (yes forego the 30% cut in game sales), and call it a day.

As much as I do not game on MS, we need them to be healthy to keep the other guys on their toes.
 



 
I thought Bond was gonna takeover... at least she was a gamer(?)... Satya must've forced their hands...? Rumours strongly suggest that there is still new hardware coming for nextBox, but everything is an XBox so I just dunno WTF is MS planning (besides double-downing on AI) for XB.

Just get Steam on the new hardware, release all the games on Steam (yes forego the 30% cut in game sales), and call it a day.

As much as I do not game on MS, we need them to be healthy to keep the other guys on their toes.

I also thought Bond was set to take Spencer's position, but she has resigned. Why did Bond leave Microsoft? Is everything okay at Microsoft? I am not familiar with Asha Sharma, though since this announcement I have read a lot of praise going her way. Now that she is moving to Xbox, who will fill her spot on Microsoft's core AI team? Sharma is now both the CEO and the new EVP of Microsoft Gaming. A lot of questions... From reading Microsoft's announcement, Sharma does not seem intent of injecting AI into gaming, but then why appoint her?

This is what she said:


My first job is simple: understand what makes this work and protect it.

That starts with three commitments.

First, great games.

Everything begins here. We must have great games beloved by players before we do anything. Unforgettable characters, stories that make us feel, innovative game play, and creative excellence. We will empower our studios, invest in iconic franchises, and back bold new ideas. We will take risks. We will enter new categories and markets where we can add real value, grounded in what players care about most.

I promoted Matt Booty in honor of this commitment.
He understands the craft and the challenges of building great games, has led teams that deliver award-winning work, and has earned the trust of game developers across the industry.

Second, the return of Xbox.

We will recommit to our core Xbox fans and players, those who have invested with us for the past 25 years, and to the developers who build the expansive universes and experiences that are embraced by players across the world.

We will celebrate our roots with a renewed commitment to Xbox starting with console which has shaped who we are. It connects us to the players and fans who invest in Xbox, and to the developers who build ambitious experiences for it.

Gaming now lives across devices, not within the limits of any single piece of hardware. As we expand across PC, mobile, and cloud, Xbox should feel seamless, instant, and worthy of the communities we serve. We will break down barriers so developers can build once and reach players everywhere without compromise.

Third, future of play.

We are witnessing the reinvention of play.

To meet the moment, we will invent new business models and new ways to play by leaning into what we already have: iconic teams, characters, and worlds that people love. But we will not treat those worlds as static IP to milk and monetize. We will build a shared platform and tools that empower developers and players to create and share their own stories.

As monetization and AI evolve and influence this future, we will not chase short-term efficiency or flood our ecosystem with soulless AI slop. Games are and always will be art, crafted by humans, and created with the most innovative technology provided by us.

The next 25 years belong to the teams who dare to build something surprising, something no one else is willing to try, and have the patience to see it through. We have done this before, and I am here to help us do it again. I want to return to the renegade spirit that built Xbox in the first place. It will require us to relentlessly question everything, revisit processes, protect what works, and be brave enough to change what does not.

Thank you for welcoming me into this journey.

Asha

I am not sure what new kinds of risks Microsoft can take with gaming. Gaming as a service is their biggest risk, ever taken, and has become the core of their ecosystem and content distribution. They do seem to have the initiative to recommit to consoles. The definition of a console has changed, but due to the state of DRAM and other computer parts, consumers will now see more embedded or integrated systems.

The line "monetization and AI evolve and influence this future" just screams of deception. Of course it will not be for the short-term, but for the long term, and I think this is why she was chosen for this role at Microsoft Gaming. Many publishers and developers who previously stated they use AI in their work and gaming assets have recently changed their stance. It is a deceptive stance, because all they are doing is reintreprating their use of AI. Most, if not all, people in the gaming industry are using generative AI. They are just going about managing public perception. So far, the court of public opinion has been on an inquisition for those using AI in gaming. Microsoft is doing the exact same now, attempting to influence the market of how they will use AI in this new chapter of theirs.

Microsoft has acquired a lot of IP, and they have made it known in the past that there will be crossover. This would also include ecosystem practices, for example, Bethesda's Creations, amongst other things.

Matt Booty has been promoted, becoming EVP and Chief Content Officer. A man who was incredibly supportive of AI, more so of agentic AI. He once said that he wants to replace human QA testers with AI. From reading his past commentary, he is the typical if you can't beat them join them type of person.

Anyhow, all of the best to Microsoft Gaming, and their Xbox Game Pass loyalists.
 
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"retired" the same way my dog stoffel "went to the farm" back when I was 5 y/o.

The Spencer era did lead Microsoft Gaming's greatest acquisitions, but I am curious whereto he is heading now. Phil is nearing sixty, but silicon people tend to stick around the moat when "retiring." I doubt that we will see any such high-value targets again from Microsoft in the next 10-years to come, mostly due to competition actions. Though I can see Microsoft Gaming acquire AI property external to their own portfolio. The AI gaming creations space, in my opinion, is going to become very competitive. AI will start to become more closed than open, especially on the frontier end of things.
 
The Spencer era did lead Microsoft Gaming's greatest acquisitions, but I am curious whereto he is heading now. Phil is nearing sixty, but silicon people tend to stick around the moat when "retiring." I doubt that we will see any such high-value targets again from Microsoft in the next 10-years to come, mostly due to competition actions. Though I can see Microsoft Gaming acquire AI property external to their own portfolio. The AI gaming creations space, in my opinion, is going to become very competitive. AI will start to become more closed than open, especially on the frontier end of things.

There was a LinkedIn post by an ex MS manager a while ago, it explained the situation perfectly. Spencer basically accepted blood money for these acquisitions. 8bn for Zenimax was already a lot, 80bn for ACTVI was astronomical. With some divsions in MS operating at a 50% margin there is just no way they were gonna let him keep running his little experiments without seeing significant return. In the past they didn't care if Xbox didn't make a lot of money, because it also didn't cost much.

It's the 25th anniversary, and he just retires out of the blue, with Bond "stepping down" without any replacement? Nah, they got the **** stick as far as I'm concerned.

He'll stick around, probably in some consultant capacity, but whatever, it's long overdue imo.
 
There was a LinkedIn post by an ex MS manager a while ago, it explained the situation perfectly. Spencer basically accepted blood money for these acquisitions. 8bn for Zenimax was already a lot, 80bn for ACTVI was astronomical. With some divsions in MS operating at a 50% margin there is just no way they were gonna let him keep running his little experiments without seeing significant return. In the past they didn't care if Xbox didn't make a lot of money, because it also didn't cost much.

It's the 25th anniversary, and he just retires out of the blue, with Bond "stepping down" without any replacement? Nah, they got the **** stick as far as I'm concerned.

He'll stick around, probably in some consultant capacity, but whatever, it's long overdue imo.

Even that said, Spencer had support coming from Microsoft. This was by no means his own decision, but he was tasked with an hunting list. They were more than willing to throw money at protecting these acquisitions in competition pushback and court filings. That is not just something that comes solely from Microsoft's Gaming business unit itself. On top of that, the gaming public by large supported this. After the subscription increases took their effect, users began to forget what they once supported.
 
A honest summary.


Let me summarize:

“Dear Team,

A group of 20 executives has written a boilerplate pseudo-assurance that reveals basically nothing about what we actually intend to do.

However, we will include about 15 paragraphs of vaguely related filler littered with platitudes to make you think something profound has been written.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
 
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