Microsoft Gaming is shaking up its leadership as a major announcement reveals that Phil Spencer is retiring and Sarah Bond is resigning, with Asha Sharma taking over CEO duties.
After decades under the Microsoft and Xbox banner, Phil Spencer has announced his retirement, and Xbox President Sarah Bond has also resigned from the company. This big executive shakeup sees Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announce today that former CoreAI President Asha Sharma is the new CEO of Microsoft Gaming.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced Phil Spencer’s retirement, saying, “Last year, Phil Spencer made the decision to retire from the company, and since then we’ve been talking about succession planning,” adding, “I want to thank Phil for his extraordinary leadership and partnership.” Phil Spencer started at Microsoft as an intern over 38 years ago and moved into the Head of Xbox role in 2014. One of his biggest contributions to the brand was the Activision Blizzard acquisition in 2022, which saw Microsoft purchase the gaming giant for nearly $69 billion.
In the official announcement, Spencer wrote, “Today marks an exciting new chapter for Microsoft Gaming as Asha Sharma steps into the role of CEO, and I want to be the first to welcome her to this incredible team. Working with her over the past several months has given me tremendous confidence. She brings genuine curiosity, clarity and a deep commitment to understanding players, creators, and the decisions that shape our future.”
Sharma isn’t a stranger to working with tech companies, as she has served as the VP of Product and Engineering at Meta before re-joining Microsoft in 2024. In the official announcement, Sharma wrote, “My first job is simple: understand what makes this work and protect it. That starts with three commitments,” declaring great games, the return of Xbox, and the future of play as her main focuses stepping into the role. Sharma added, “As monetization and AI evolve and influence this future, we will not chase short-term efficiency or flood our ecosystem with soulless AI slop,” promising Microsoft games will “always be art, crafted by humans.”
Welcome to Team Xbox, we’re excited about what we’ll build together!
https://t.co/6jQ4tD5lrr
— Xbox (@Xbox) February 20, 2026
It’s worth mentioning right before being confirmed as Microsoft Gaming CEO, Sharma served as President of CoreAI, a company that uses Microsoft Azure AI Foundry to help develop applications through generative AI implementation. Microsoft Foundry is designed to “Build generative AI applications and AI agents on an enterprise-grade platform,” which deploys generative AI in system development processes.
Xbox has given Spencer his flowers, writing, “Once Team Xbox, always Team Xbox. Thank you for everything Phil,” in a post, commemorating his time at the brand. Spencer is set to remain in an advisory role through the Summer to oversee the smooth handoff of duties to the incoming Microsoft Gaming CEO.
