In recent hours, rumors have circulated that Phil Spencer is ready to resign, with the possibility of Sarah Bond taking over his position in time for the launch of the next Xbox. However, Microsoft has officially denied these rumors.
“Phil is not retiring anytime soon,” said Kari Perez, the head of Xbox communications. Her colleague, Frank Shaw, also directly stated that the rumors about Spencer’s retirement were completely fabricated.
The Impact of Recent Events
The recent news likely made the rumor seem more believable to many people, especially with everything that has been happening lately.
That being said, it is completely normal for Spencer to be preparing Xbox for his eventual retirement, but there is no clear time set for when the leadership change will happen.
As mentioned earlier, today Microsoft announced over 9,000 layoffs and Phil Spencer wrote a message to the staff explaining the reasons behind the company’s difficult decisions.
Spencer, alongside Sarah Bond and Matt Booty, has been in charge of Xbox since 2014. He replaced Don Mattrick as the head of the Xbox division after serving as the head of Microsoft Studios. Under his leadership, many changes have taken place, including the launch of the Xbox Game Pass subscription service.
In related news, Microsoft confirms that over 40 games are in development at Xbox Game Studios, despite recent layoffs. Key titles like State of Decay 3 and Marvel’s Blade remain on track, while others like Perfect Dark and Everwild are canceled
