Wow.

If he releases a book, I'd read it.

I want to know Wtf happened behind the scenes during his xbox tenure.

WTF? Phil Spencer was surely on his way out at some point but Sarah resigning already???

Was she forced out? Or did she just hate the direction things were being pushed in?

Crazy news

Well yeah that's where Matt Booty comes in; I am just not that negative right because she says the right things

In her email to Microsoft staff, she wrote, in part: "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."

Ofcourse it can be just bullshit in the end but the start isn't bad, dont' remember what Sarah bond said when she started.

"we will not chase short-term efficiency or flood our ecosystem with soulless AI slop." is something that's grabbing me the most.

Actions speak louder than words, but we shall how her new role plays out. A lot of her resume with Microsoft is Azure-based on top of AI integrations. So heavily Cloud-focused as well.

My initial thought of the new CEO having no experience in gaming and coming over from AI slop was "OMG WHAT ARE THEY DOING?!" but after I've read the emails I am now like "Well lets wait and see what happens."

Asha is making me somewhat hopeful by stating she wants to recommit to the core Xbox fans instead of chasing new audiences, and also by speaking out against AI slop. I'm not sure why they are keeping Booty though, he mismanaged the heck out of some of the studios under his banner, letting Perfect Dark be in development for like almost 4 years (after it's reboot) without even a completed vertical slice demo for instance.

It seems like these changes have been in the works for at least a little while, but possible Sarah Bond wasn't aware of this. She was inline to take over the new Xbox CEO.

Oh yeah, this definitely seems like Sarah wasn't informed that any of this was happening until today. I feel like Satya called her up and said "choose to resign or get fired", lol.

That is pretty much how I feel. I was hoping Sarah Bond would have been the next Microsoft Gaming CEO once Phil Spencer retired.