Sarah Bond Faced Scrutiny Over Failure of “This is an Xbox” Campaign – Rumor

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Wow, the news about Xbox is still hard to believe! It’s been a few days since Phil Spencer announced he’s stepping down as head of Microsoft Gaming, and I’m still shocked. What’s even more surprising is that Sarah Bond, who I thought was a natural fit to take over as Xbox president, is actually leaving Microsoft altogether to start something new. It’s a huge shake-up, and I’m really curious to see what happens next.

The situation wasn’t as simple as it seemed. According to reports from The Verge’s Tom Warren, employees had a varied reaction to the “This is an Xbox” campaign. The issues started with the departure of Jerret West, Xbox’s marketing chief, in June 2024. Following his exit, marketing teams began reporting to Bond, and shortly after, Microsoft started considering whether an Xbox console was even needed anymore.

It seems the plan was to prioritize cloud gaming and mobile devices as the main ways to play Xbox games, which led to a marketing campaign that reportedly upset many workers. Several current and former employees also described Bond as challenging to collaborate with. While people who supported her ideas were welcome on the team, even raising concerns could lead to being removed.

Inside the company, the plan was apparently not working well and faced repeated doubts. Warren also pointed out that, besides Spencer, none of the other leaders who sent out memos – including CEO Satya Nadella, newly appointed Chief Content Officer Matt Booty, and the new gaming CEO Asha Sharma – even mentioned Bond.

Based on recent comments, the company appears to be prioritizing Xbox moving forward. However, with the next Xbox console not expected until 2027, there’s still a lot of work to be done.

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2026-02-23 19:11