Sarah Bond is stepping down from her post at Xbox.
Bond had been working at Xbox, owned by Microsoft, since 2017, according to her LinkedIn. She previously held the post of corporate vice president, and also dedicated time as executive sponsor of the Blacks @ Microsoft employee resource group.
As AFROTECH™ previously reported, Bond made history when she was appointed president and chief operating officer of Xbox in 2023. She became the first Black woman to serve as president of Xbox and a major multinational gaming company. At the time, she described the feat as an honor in a post shared on X.
As president, she was tasked with managing the strategic direction and operational execution for the Xbox platform at Microsoft, planning and legal and finance initiatives to streamline operations and business performance, and cross-functional teams across product development, engineering, marketing, and sales to improve the user experience, according to information listed on her LinkedIn profile.
Bond is now stepping away from her post. She confirmed in a LinkedIn post.
“I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve built together over the past eight-plus years. PC and cloud gaming are growing faster than ever, our next console is well underway, and together we’ve helped lay the foundation for a more open gaming platform that spans devices and reaches players around the world,” she wrote.
Bond added that she felt now was the best time to make her exit, and she is fueled by the “transformative technological era that will shape the next generation of our industry.” She will still be involved in the company as a special advisor to Asha Sharma, who will assume the role of executive vice president and CEO of Microsoft Gaming, taking over the responsibilities of Phil Spencer, who has exited the company after 38 years, according to a news release.
“I’ve had the privilege of spending time with Asha over the last few weeks as we’ve planned for this transition, and I’ve seen firsthand her deep commitment to our players, developers, and brand. She brings deep technology and commerce experience, along with a strong track record of building and scaling platforms that the world uses. Xbox deserves this. I’m excited to see her lead this next chapter for our team,” Bond expressed in the LinkedIn post.
That chapter includes a commitment to human art in the age of AI. Per CNBC, Sharma noted that the company will not “chase short-term efficiency or flood our ecosystem with soulless AI slop.” Additionally, Sharma told the outlet that Microsoft will remain focused on console gaming.
