“It’s rare in life to know when a chapter is closing, but after 38 years at Microsoft, that moment has arrived for me. I’ve made the decision to retire and begin the next chapter of my life. It’s a milestone that’s given me a chance to reflect on the incredible journey I’ve been fortunate enough to share with so many of you,” Spencer wrote in a series of posts on X.
It’s rare in life to know when a chapter is closing, but after 38 years at Microsoft, that moment has arrived for me. I’ve made the decision to retire and begin the next chapter of my life. It’s a milestone that’s given me a chance to reflect on the incredible journey I’ve been…
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) February 20, 2026
Spencer said he is ‘excited’ for Sharma and added that she is joining an “incredible group of people; teams full of talent, heart, and a deep commitment to the players they serve.”
“Watching her lean in with curiosity and a real desire to strengthen the foundation we’ve built gives me confidence that our Xbox communities will be well supported in the years ahead,” he wrote.
Spencer said he will keep “cheering on the teams pushing this industry forward and playing alongside this incredible community.”
In a memo to employees published on Friday, February 20, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella wrote that Spencer made the decision to retire from the company last year, adding that since then they have been talking about succession planning.
Thanking Spencer for his “extraordinary leadership and partnership,” Nadella wrote, “Over 38 years at Microsoft, including 12 years leading Gaming, Phil helped transform what we do and how we do it.”
On beginning her role as CEO of Microsoft Gaming, Sharma said, “I feel two things at once: humility and urgency.”
“I am stepping into work shaped by generations of artists, engineers, designers, writers, musicians, operators and more who create worlds that have brought joy and deep personal meaning to hundreds of millions of players,” she wrote in a message to Microsoft’s gaming employees.
Who Is Asha Sharma
In her previous role, Sharma was leading product development for AI models and services at the company. She joined Microsoft from Instacart in 2024. She had started her journey at Instacart in 2021 and served as operating chief. Sharma has also spent four years as a vice president of product and engineering at Meta as well as two years in marketing at Microsoft.
“We will recommit to our core Xbox fans and players, those who have invested with us for the past 25 years, and to the developers who build the expansive universes and experiences that are embraced by players across the world,” Sharma said.
Last month, Microsoft informed that the gaming revenue fell by nearly 9.5% in the December quarter, while the company recorded undisclosed impairment charges in the division, according to Reuters.
Earlier, the company made a $75 billion bet for expanding its games business with the 2023 acquisition of Activision Blizzard, besides coming out with Call of Duty titles as a cloud service.
As per CNBC, the latest generation of Xbox consoles have not been as popular as PlayStation from Sony and Nintendo’s Switch.
