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Phil Spencer is Retiring and Sara Bond is Out bot there's something really worst than that

Dr Bass said:
That's basically getting fired. People plan their retirements WELL in advance. Unless he had done that, but if that was the case I think that would have been shared as well.

He got canned.
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Yeah, that's pretty much what I was intimating. "Let's celebrate our employee's retirement! Starting .... now."
 
T4keD0wN said:
Happy Feel Good GIF
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Has Asmon already got a clip up
 
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SlimySnake said:
She had what 3 years to course correct? Plenty of time.

Problem with corporations is that anyone who has risen to that kind of executive level is good at suck up to other execs. They dont really have any talent other than fooling other people that they are talented.
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I'm just saying, the goose was cooked long before she got there. The only thing Xbox could have done not to be in this position is to have refrained from purchasing Activision Blizzard.

That or make Bobby K the head of Xbox after the transition. Saw what you want about Bobby K, the dude only knows how to make good deals.
 
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I'm more surprised about Sarah Bond leaving, she's been the face of all the Xbox Magnus news in recent months.

Best of luck to Phil Spencer as well.

Excited for the future.
 
Phil was at the head of some really big cock-ups but at least he paid lip service to gaming even if we all saw through his "I'm really a gamer too, guys!" persona. This new head of Microsoft Gaming is a literal diversity hire with zero experience in gaming. Looking her up, her entire past work has been in cloud and AI.

Phil needed to go but I refuse to believe this is the best replacement option Redmond has to offer.
 
hououinkyouma00 said:
There's some "interesting" takes in here already I see.


Did you read any of the OP? Phil brought up retiring to Satya last year. Companies and CEOs don't always announce changes ahead of time. A quick announcement to departure does NOT mean a forced departure.
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lol and sarah bond just happened to leave as well. Come on man this isn't some regular retirement.
 
Between Sony's growing incompetence and Xbox's looming complete brand death, it'd actually be worth being concerned for the future of the console industry for a change.

Valve, save us please. Please!

mayham2199 said:
lol and sarah bond just happened to leave as well. Come on man this isn't some regular retirement.
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Who knows, they might be joining PlayStation 👀
 
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Won't change a thing if they are both out, they'll still be languishing a distant 3rd even when their shiny new Xbox is out, not as if they were going toe-to-toe with Sony under Phil and Sarah's watch (so to speak)
 
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thicc_girls_are_teh_best said:
Between Sony's growing incompetence and Xbox's looming complete brand death, it'd actually be worth being concerned for the future of the console industry for a change.

Valve, save us please. Please!



Who knows, they might be joining PlayStation 👀
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what is gaming, when the hardware no longer is available for consumers?

zen 6 is getting delayed to 2027.

fucking ai heist....it seems to keep getting worse
 
GamePass was a real hail mary. One that didn't work out, and after that Phil was toast.

Being charitable I wonder if the reasoning why during Phil's tenure Xbox seemed to lurch between extreme solutions, whilst failing to address the basic stuff, was because his marching orders were to create a level of growth that was realistically unattainable.

Looking back, it seems with Xbox there was always a thing being pitched "bigger than just console gaming". Meanwhile Sony was just focussed on getting back to the success of the PS2 era, to the extent they even seem surprised by how well PS4 was doing.

Maybe its just as simple as Microsoft not being a hardware company that's sealed Xbox's fate as a console brand. They want to sell software and services, the rest of it was always just a means to an end. In the final analysis Bill Gates original intention was to get the same grip on the living rooms of America that they had on workplaces. So now there are screens everywhere... should we really be surprised that they have ended up where they have ?
 
Having a closer look at her resume and education, it's wild that this person ever got to any executive position. She has no experience or technical education whatsoever. It's all management this, management that, not even a fucking MBA. You could replace her with AOC and wouldn't notice the difference.
 
Nydius said:
Phil needed to go but I refuse to believe this is the best replacement option Redmond has to offer.
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It totally is the best replacement option if you don't care about gaming and care a lot about the how the data and infrastructure from your soon to be former gaming division can help the budding AI division. Keep it around as a vestigal division for a Live Service thing here and there.

Perfect replacement. Her lack of experience in gaming and leadership alone makes her the ideal empty suit for the board.
 
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StereoVsn said:
This does not sound like an improvement.

"The new CEO of Microsoft Gaming will be Asha Sharma, currently the President of Microsoft's CoreAI product. Finally, Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty is being promoted to Chief Content Officer and will work closely with Sharma."

Shit got bad but MS is hell bent on making them even worse.
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Matt Booty keeping his job is the biggest crime.
 
RAIDEN1 said:
Won't change a thing if they are both out, they'll still be languishing a distant 3rd even when their shiny new Xbox is out, not as if they were going toe-to-toe with Sony under Phil and Sarah's watch (so to speak)
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There are two paths here for MS in terms of why they've suddenly pushed for Phil & Sarah to be out

1: They're actually planning to step back in as a real console platform holder and all the PC talk with Magnus (not feature-wise (well, not all the features) but business model-wise) has been a red herring, or:​
​
2: They want to speedrun the end of Xbox as a brand, including the hardware. Which might even mean cancelling Magnus.​

We'll see what happens.
 
Dr Bass said:
That's basically getting fired. People plan their retirements WELL in advance. Unless he had done that, but if that was the case I think that would have been shared as well.

He got canned.
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I'm pretty sure he announced his impending retirement last year. Him and Nutella mentioned that in their letters.
 
blogs.microsoft.com

Asha Sharma named EVP and CEO, Microsoft Gaming - The Official Microsoft Blog

Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO, and members of his executive team shared the following communications with employees today. SATYA NADELLA MESSAGE Gaming has been part of Microsoft from the start. Flight Simulator shipped before Windows, and you can practically ray‑trace a line from DirectX in...
blogs.microsoft.com blogs.microsoft.com

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.
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thicc_girls_are_teh_best said:
There are two paths here for MS in terms of why they've suddenly pushed for Phil & Sarah to be out

1: They're actually planning to step back in as a real console platform holder and all the PC talk with Magnus (not feature-wise (well, not all the features) but business model-wise) has been a red herring, or:

2: They want to speedrun the end of Xbox as a brand, including the hardware. Which might even mean cancelling Magnus.​

We'll see what happens.
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Item 2 seems by far the likeliest proposition.
 
Windom Earle said:
Full emails from Nadella, Spencer, Sharma, and Booty
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Something smells… Nadella cracks a ray-tracing pun and the new MS Gaming CEO he promoted mentions "AI slop" in her introductory email after Nadella, her boss, just said it is a term he wants people not to use… it makes the rest sounds phony.
 
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Everything was burnt to the ground.
Nadella is basically getting rid of the old guard that still felt connected to the Xbox brand, planted the new indian AI promoter with the completely inadequate resume for the role to execute his orders :messenger_grinning_sweat: while Booty kissed booties and swore on the AI bible to get the promotion.
 
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