daninthemix
Member
He's rich and doesn't need to work?
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Why was Spencer pushed?
- Thread starter Simply Sami
- Start date
saintjules
Gold Member
Sarah did leave one. I posted it in the other thread.
Both of them leaving at the same time raises eyebrows is all I'm saying. I think Phil was given a choice, and he chose to retire with his $25+mil net worth.
digoutyoursoul
Member
Give him credit for the positives and Apparently it's never his responsibility when the outcome is a negative one.
Don
Terry Myerson
Satya
Amy
The tools
Wait till next E3 etc
Fuck off
Don
Terry Myerson
Satya
Amy
The tools
Wait till next E3 etc
Fuck off
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WhiteWaterM00se
Member
Could have something to do with Phil convinced Microsoft to spend $100 Billion dollars on studios and has very little to show for it?!
Microsoft investors are asking Wendy of they could have instead put that money into AI or Drone technology?!
Microsoft investors are asking Wendy of they could have instead put that money into AI or Drone technology?!
If you want a more complex answer:
Microsoft as a whole makes far higher profit margins than gaming industry, Xbox existence came down to Ed Fries et others convincing Bill Gates that Sony was taking over the PC Gaming space and therefore, the PC space itself, which was a major threat to Windows, and PC gaming suffered in the 00s with plenty of studios dropping their commitment to it and go for Playstation, Xbox and Nintendo instead.
Fast forward, PC gaming is in full force, Sony is porting their games to the platform, the budget costs are so huge that developers make multiplatform as a priority since porting is a dot in the budget sheet, Microsoft probably see this as evidences that they will never be threatened in their core business and Xbox can exist as a profitable per unit niche than a slim margin popular brand (think like automakers, they have been killing cheap cars for SUVs for this reason).
Microsoft as a whole makes far higher profit margins than gaming industry, Xbox existence came down to Ed Fries et others convincing Bill Gates that Sony was taking over the PC Gaming space and therefore, the PC space itself, which was a major threat to Windows, and PC gaming suffered in the 00s with plenty of studios dropping their commitment to it and go for Playstation, Xbox and Nintendo instead.
Fast forward, PC gaming is in full force, Sony is porting their games to the platform, the budget costs are so huge that developers make multiplatform as a priority since porting is a dot in the budget sheet, Microsoft probably see this as evidences that they will never be threatened in their core business and Xbox can exist as a profitable per unit niche than a slim margin popular brand (think like automakers, they have been killing cheap cars for SUVs for this reason).
wipeout364
Member
I think he was fired as was Sarah Bond. I don't know the reason but if I was to guess it would be:
Satya Nadella has for the last 2 years made some big impositions on the Xbox arm of the company forcing AI and profit margins. I believe Phil and Sarah went along with these probably pushing back a bit but being corporate citizens ultimately did what they were told.
This essentially has destroyed the Xbox brand and caused caused investor questions, Xbox was never a jewel in the crown but had some growth and had stabilized during COVID. Now it's struggling and much worse after Satya's interference.
Unfortunately, Satya never takes responsibility for his screw ups (of which there have been many under his tenure), this is hence an effort to shut down criticism; so he fired Phil and Sarah( giving them payouts to shut them up and take tHe fall).
Sarah will be taken care of financially, and I suspect Phil just said F&@k it after getting a big goodbye check and looking at the value of his stock.
We will unfortunately never know what happened from those two key players
Satya Nadella has for the last 2 years made some big impositions on the Xbox arm of the company forcing AI and profit margins. I believe Phil and Sarah went along with these probably pushing back a bit but being corporate citizens ultimately did what they were told.
This essentially has destroyed the Xbox brand and caused caused investor questions, Xbox was never a jewel in the crown but had some growth and had stabilized during COVID. Now it's struggling and much worse after Satya's interference.
Unfortunately, Satya never takes responsibility for his screw ups (of which there have been many under his tenure), this is hence an effort to shut down criticism; so he fired Phil and Sarah( giving them payouts to shut them up and take tHe fall).
Sarah will be taken care of financially, and I suspect Phil just said F&@k it after getting a big goodbye check and looking at the value of his stock.
We will unfortunately never know what happened from those two key players
diffusionx
Gold Member
Blops7 being a total failure was the final straw
Horseganador
Member
The question is why they haven't fired him sooner.
kingkratos15
Neo Member
I think he made a lot of mistakes. He made very big mistakes, like moving Gamepass away from Xbox Series S and exclusive games, and even releasing games on platforms he considered competitors.
Gamer_By_Proxy
About to beat off
Spent like $100 billion dollars just to lose more money.
OmegaSupreme
advanced basic bitch
Because he did a poor job?
JohnnyFootball
GerAlt-Right. Ciriously.
Pretty much everything that could have gone wrong went wrong.
1. He could not manage studios. He didn't have hard deadlines and always threw money at every problem.
2. He pitched Gamepass as the Netflix of gaming. He pitched this idea when subscriptions were cheap and exploding. Once it existed, subscriptions had started to saturate the market. The model had passed its peak, but was far from unviable. Gamepass devalued games and created a race to the bottom. With rising develepment costs, corners would need to be cut to provide content. He also failed to understand that gaming habits are FAR different than content consumption habits. When it was less than $10 a month, it had value even if you didn't play many games.
3. He was FAR too interested in winning PR battles and continued the MS culture of FUD. S SneakersSO has pointed this out too. He fostered an online community, but didn't foster actual progress
4. The $70 billion dollar blunder came at a time when Call of Duty had passed its peak (but still a money maker)
The good I will give him.
1. Xbox Series X was and is a legit GREAT console.
2. Backwards compatibility was a good win.
1. He could not manage studios. He didn't have hard deadlines and always threw money at every problem.
2. He pitched Gamepass as the Netflix of gaming. He pitched this idea when subscriptions were cheap and exploding. Once it existed, subscriptions had started to saturate the market. The model had passed its peak, but was far from unviable. Gamepass devalued games and created a race to the bottom. With rising develepment costs, corners would need to be cut to provide content. He also failed to understand that gaming habits are FAR different than content consumption habits. When it was less than $10 a month, it had value even if you didn't play many games.
3. He was FAR too interested in winning PR battles and continued the MS culture of FUD. S SneakersSO has pointed this out too. He fostered an online community, but didn't foster actual progress
4. The $70 billion dollar blunder came at a time when Call of Duty had passed its peak (but still a money maker)
The good I will give him.
1. Xbox Series X was and is a legit GREAT console.
2. Backwards compatibility was a good win.
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dragonyeuw
Member
From the outside looking in, whatever you think of Phil's moves the last decade or so it doesn't seem like he was really on-board with the A.I centric way Microsoft was going when it came to gaming. Sarah was probably in the same vein and that's why she's gone, because it seemed like she was the one who was being positioned to succeed Phil.
When you look at the resume of who's been promoted, it's the perfect stooge for Nadella to throw into the lion's den to push their bullshit.
Anyways, between 2001 and 2013 I was a bigger fan of Xbox than I was either Playstation or Nintendo ( I had all the systems, but I heavily leaned Xbox). They've completely lost me with what they've become ( and really, the other two companies are losing me too for other reasons, but I digress).
When you look at the resume of who's been promoted, it's the perfect stooge for Nadella to throw into the lion's den to push their bullshit.
Anyways, between 2001 and 2013 I was a bigger fan of Xbox than I was either Playstation or Nintendo ( I had all the systems, but I heavily leaned Xbox). They've completely lost me with what they've become ( and really, the other two companies are losing me too for other reasons, but I digress).
RoboFu
One of the green rats
He was the figure head and he had a bad popular presence now and Xbox is clearly shifting to a new lesser role. This new young lady probably cost less than half of Spencer's salary.
But don't think for sec it was a last min thing. Bond might had been out of the loop but all signs a year ago pointed to Spencer leaving.
He has made multi millions. Don't worry about Old Spence.
But don't think for sec it was a last min thing. Bond might had been out of the loop but all signs a year ago pointed to Spencer leaving.
He has made multi millions. Don't worry about Old Spence.
Ellis
Member
xanaum
Member
The real question I've always argued everywhere on the internet, and probably even asked here when I first showed up, was: "How does this guy keep his job while sitting on a pile of failures and negative margins?"
Now I'm starting to ask the same thing about Hermen Hulst. He's still lucky first party is profitable because he's riding on work put on the rails by people like Yoshida, but he's another guy who clearly doesn't belong there, with failures starting to pile up at his feet.
Now I'm starting to ask the same thing about Hermen Hulst. He's still lucky first party is profitable because he's riding on work put on the rails by people like Yoshida, but he's another guy who clearly doesn't belong there, with failures starting to pile up at his feet.
Clear
CliffyB's Cock Holster
Probably because Xbox hardware's retreat to being basically a bolt-on to custom PC's has coincided with the AI boom driving the price of memory and storage into the stratosphere. So their already expensive offer is going to be significantly more expensive then planned.
Its the actual worst-case scenario.
Its the actual worst-case scenario.
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
Sarah should've changed her last name to Naan.
Sorcerer
Member
From what I understand he is staying on in an advisory role to help transition Sharma. He will be officially gone sometime in the Summer. (According to Matty).
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Edgelord79
Gold Member
No it's not. Provide the evidence he was clearly fired. Else all you are doing is speculating.
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Sorcerer
Member
The difference is Nadella is the guy who puts the pressure on others to perform within Microsoft. Nadella is only pressured by the shareholders, thus shit roles downhill.I don't buy the retiring excuse. Phil is 58, guess who is also 58 and not retiring?
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Knight of the Round
Member
Phil gambled on a future where no gamer would own any games and every gamer on the planet would give him 10 bucks a month in exchange for a plethora of games.
What Phil underestimated was that a good percentage of gamers were still collectors at heart. They still like to feel they own their games, even digitally. Also the GamePass mentality is the Fast Food of gaming. Play something for two hours, get your fix, drop the game, pick another one, play 2-3 hours, rinse and repeat. Which caused MicroSoft to value quantity over quality. Which is again - opposed to core gamer values.
My biggest problem with Game Pass was and is my problem with Netflix: Third party 'products' are temporarily available and can be taken down at any time, which forces me to game on Game Pass' time, not mine.
And that's a 'hell naw' from me.
What Phil underestimated was that a good percentage of gamers were still collectors at heart. They still like to feel they own their games, even digitally. Also the GamePass mentality is the Fast Food of gaming. Play something for two hours, get your fix, drop the game, pick another one, play 2-3 hours, rinse and repeat. Which caused MicroSoft to value quantity over quality. Which is again - opposed to core gamer values.
My biggest problem with Game Pass was and is my problem with Netflix: Third party 'products' are temporarily available and can be taken down at any time, which forces me to game on Game Pass' time, not mine.
And that's a 'hell naw' from me.
Edgelord79
Gold Member
Matt Booty is still employed. This is even more egregious in my opinion.
NickFire
Member
Anyone who
Is it possible he retired and his successor in the wings chose to resign for shits and giggles on the same day AI was promoted, sure? Lots of things are possible. Doesn't mean we should ignore common sense, the long string of failures, the recent quarterly reports, the other long string of failures, or the rest of the failures.
Yeah, it is clear to most people.
Is it possible he retired and his successor in the wings chose to resign for shits and giggles on the same day AI was promoted, sure? Lots of things are possible. Doesn't mean we should ignore common sense, the long string of failures, the recent quarterly reports, the other long string of failures, or the rest of the failures.
I don't buy the retiring excuse. Phil is 58, guess who is also 58 and not retiring?
Strange comparison. People take retirement at different ages and for different reasons.
Nadella has overseen a roughly 1000% increase in Microsoft's stock value since he took over, by the way.
You're still just speculating.
NickFire
Member
As are you. At least my speculation doesn't require me to trust the same common sense defying spin they've been throwing out every December for 13 years.
Nowhere have I said "this is what happened" or the like. So, no. The factual statement is that we don't know what has happened here or why.
This thread is 99% posters thinking thoughts and then acting like their own thoughts are confirmed facts.
Edgelord79
Gold Member
You could have just said you have no evidence and left it at that. It's probable he was pushed out yes; but again just speculation.
Gambit2483
Member
They also (usually for top execs) give them the option to either
1. Leave/retire of their "own accord"
Or
2. Be publicly Fired
Most will almost always choose option 1.
asdasdasdbb
Member
If anything, GAAS is what killed Gamepass.
I'd say XBox is going "All in" on AI at the demand of Satya. Maybe Phil didn't want to be the hatchet man for the kind of layoffs that are coming. I'm not really sure MS is capable of building AI tools to wipe out the need for most artists and voice talent, but I guess we are going to find out.
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polybius80
Member
I hope I am wrong but I think he has health problem and that is why he no longer works at MS, this based in recent pictures people post here
Deerock71
Very Poor Hoice of Wor
I was wondering when somebody was going to state the obvious.
Spooky Scary Skeleton
Member
People "retire" for many personal reasons, especially for people with higher corpo positions like Phil had.
And Xbox's overall profit and revenue went up during Phil's tenure from 2014 - 2023 and his gamepass strategy yielded net profit for MS. They recently raked in $4 billion just from Xbox division alone in 2025, according to Bloomberg.
It's MS's unreasonable profit goals and margins that caused restructure of Xbox division. GaaS barely had anything to do with Microsoft's decision in the board room (probably not even mentioned in their decision making).
I blame the entire industry's shift to AI slop. They are focusing less on hardware and going in all on AI, hence the restructure.
And Xbox's overall profit and revenue went up during Phil's tenure from 2014 - 2023 and his gamepass strategy yielded net profit for MS. They recently raked in $4 billion just from Xbox division alone in 2025, according to Bloomberg.
It's MS's unreasonable profit goals and margins that caused restructure of Xbox division. GaaS barely had anything to do with Microsoft's decision in the board room (probably not even mentioned in their decision making).
I blame the entire industry's shift to AI slop. They are focusing less on hardware and going in all on AI, hence the restructure.
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reinking
Gold Member
I do not know Phil's situation and what deals were made but I do have an anecdotal example. Several years ago, I walked an executive out of the building that had "retired." He even stayed on for six months as a consultant after this. Since I had a good relationship with him, he was pretty forthcoming with me about what had happened and he was absolutely pissed that they announced his "retirement" in an internal communication. Over the years, I have seen several examples of early retirement for executive and upper management. It seems common for it to happen when a project is completed or if things are moving in a new direction.
ChorizoPicozo
Member
Two scenarios:
1. Layoffs were due; Phil couldn't take them anymore. No because he cares about people but because his image was garbage.
2.MS is done with this BS. Nothing is working and there is not an upward trajectory after the ABK acquisition.
And this was the vibe.... the next round of layoffs were going to break something. And they brake it good
1. Layoffs were due; Phil couldn't take them anymore. No because he cares about people but because his image was garbage.
2.MS is done with this BS. Nothing is working and there is not an upward trajectory after the ABK acquisition.
And this was the vibe.... the next round of layoffs were going to break something. And they brake it good
Moriarty1889
Member
Phil looks like he aged 20 years this gen. He put all his eggs in one basket with Gamepass and it didn't work. He cancelled games, shut down studios and gave no incentive to buy Xbox hardware or games. He literally ruined the brand and any chance they may have had of being competitive. He was most definitely pushed out the door due to his terrible leadership and devaluing of the Xbox brand. The most embarrassing thing ever was watching Xbox put their legacy franchises on the PS5 while getting nothing in return in terms of Sony games. That showed how desperate and defeated they had become with clueless Phil at the helm. Good riddance and let's see what happens with the new leadership although I won't hold my breath.
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Microsoft purchased Zenimax and it failed to hit the sales expectations built into the valuation; Refdfall, Starfield, Indiana Jones etc. Microsoft bought Activision and Blizzard and just saw the same thing repeat with Call of Duty.
All the cheering for Microsoft acquisitions only placed significantly more scrutiny on the executives to deliver and they didn't. Now it's in the endgame and it's do or die in terms of revenue generation. You can probably draw a direct line between their failures and major changes at Microsoft pushed on the division by the CEO and CFO.
All the cheering for Microsoft acquisitions only placed significantly more scrutiny on the executives to deliver and they didn't. Now it's in the endgame and it's do or die in terms of revenue generation. You can probably draw a direct line between their failures and major changes at Microsoft pushed on the division by the CEO and CFO.
Chittagong
Gold Member
The console plan is dead and they need a caretaker CEO to manage the decline and divestment of the gaming division.
UltimaKilo
Gold Member
Phil Spencer had the backing of the biggest company in the world with an endless war chest and still failed. He should have been out 3-4 years ago.
His tenure will go down as a failure.
His tenure will go down as a failure.
