Xbox Era Ends with Spencer Retirement

Spencer's retirement, effective February 23, 2026, was part of a broader leadership shake-up. Asha Sharma, formerly President of Microsoft's CoreAI product, was named the new CEO of Microsoft Gaming. The transition also saw the departure of Xbox President Sarah Bond, who was long considered Spencer's likely successor. Spencer began his career at Microsoft as an intern in 1988 and joined the Xbox team in 2001. He was appointed Head of Xbox in 2014, tasked with course-correcting the brand after the controversial launch of the Xbox One. His promotion to the newly created role of CEO of Microsoft Gaming came in January 2022. Under his leadership, Microsoft made the largest acquisition in video game history with the $68.7 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard. This followed the significant $7.5 billion acquisition of ZeniMax Media in 2020, which brought major franchises like The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, and DOOM under the Xbox umbrella. Beyond acquisitions, Spencer championed key initiatives that defined the modern Xbox ecosystem. He spearheaded the push for backward compatibility, making older games playable on new consoles, and oversaw the two-pronged hardware strategy of the Xbox Series X and the more affordable Series S. The Game Pass subscription service, a central pillar of his strategy, has grown to over 35 million subscribers as of mid-2025. This service generated nearly $5 billion in annual revenue for the 2025 fiscal year, offsetting declines in hardware sales. The new CEO, Asha Sharma, joined Microsoft in 2024 after holding positions at Meta and Instacart. Matt Booty, head of Xbox Game Studios, has been promoted to Chief Content Officer and will work closely with Sharma to oversee content from the company's nearly 40 game studios.