Much of the spotlight has been on Phil Spencer and new Xbox boss Asha Sharma in relation to today's huge shakeup over at Microsoft Gaming - but thanks to a departing statement from Phil himself, we now know for sure that Xbox President Sarah Bond is also leaving the company.
Yep, Bond — who has been Xbox President for a while now and has been spearheading the brand's direction as of late — "has decided to leave Microsoft to begin a new chapter". We'll share Phil's full note on Sarah Bond departing down below, as the retiring Xbox boss pays tribute to her contributions to the team:
"As part of this transition, Sarah Bond has decided to leave Microsoft to begin a new chapter. Sarah has been instrumental during a defining period for Xbox, shaping our platform strategy, expanding Game Pass and cloud gaming, supporting new hardware launches, and guiding some of the most significant moments in our history. I’m grateful for her partnership and the impact she’s had, and I wish her the very best in what comes next."
At the time of writing, neither Phil nor anyone else at Microsoft has announced a direct replacement for Bond. We're assuming that the role of 'Xbox President' has either changed or gone away (given both Asha Sharma and fellow exec Matt Booty now have 'Executive Vice President' as part of their official titles), but we'll keep an eye out for any official news on a potential successor.
Bond had become an increasingly more public-facing figure in recent years - particularly in relation to Xbox Play Anywhere, ROG Xbox Ally and building towards the next-gen Xbox console. New boss Asha Sharma has touched on the future of the platform in her opening statement as Microsoft Gaming CEO, which we'll share in our related articles box down below.