• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

[The Verge] Inside Microsoft’s big Xbox leadership shake-up

She's a patsy. Patsy - A person who is easily taken advantage of, especially by being cheated or blamed for something.

To use it in a sentence.

Phil had a mischievous sparkle in his eye when he spotted his patsy Sarah.
 
Last edited:
Montauk said:
You said it was likely fed.
Click to expand...

I said "every bit" was "likely fed" accounting for the possibility of multiple sources. I have no idea if the entirety of this came from Microsoft or not. Thus, "likely".
 
Last edited:
Zacfoldor said:
She's a patsy. Patsy - A person who is easily taken advantage of, especially by being cheated or blamed for something.

To use it in a sentence.

Phil had a mischievous sparkle in his eye when he spotted his patsy Sarah.
Click to expand...
Nah, Patsies aren't paid out the rear for their services.
 
Last edited:
Bond's job was to execute the vision and shape the messaging, not override corporate strategy. That was Spencer's lane, and whatever direction he signed off on had to clear Nutella… however you spell it. I wonder if the nut sat with Bond to at least hear a new direction pitch.
 
Last edited:
Montauk said:
I didn't say it was clearly fake at all. Please go and find the post where I said. I won't respond to anything else from you until you do.

Best of luck.
Click to expand...
"Vague claim, no evidence presented.

Predictably GAF loves it."

So now you don't understand English I guess. Also let's forget about you repeatedly saying the story lacked "evidence". Do tell what evidence this story has that the previous one was "lacking". Go on, don't run away now.
 
Kacho said:
Seems like that is the plan. They're throwing Sarah under the bus to justify the 180.
Click to expand...
So who would you blame? This is coming from workers within Microsoft, Bond was pushing "this is Xbox" and Spencer at that point was geared towards incorporating Activision.

It obviously doesn't fit with the Gaf it was all Spencer's fault mentality (some are trying to claim he was fired) but she lost focus on what Xbox is and it's now obvious she was allowed the dignity of resigning or face the firing squad. Spencer on the other hand leaves with a "Golden Handshake" and that same smug grin he always had.
 
Curious to see other reports on this. We've had one saying that it was not planned and another saying it was. I'm sure Schrier will do a piece on this. Hard to see the truth here.
 
DenchDeckard said:
We have multiple sources saying it was known since August and then you have Greg miller say live on stream that he got a message that Phil was fired.

Yeah, Im deffo stupid to trust the multiple sources ive seen that mention August last year vs Greg live on a stream from a "Trust me bro" source.

You believe what you want, mate. Im not going to believe Greg miller. The guy is a douche and betrayed one of his closest friends. Fucking snake.
Click to expand...

So we have conflicting reports and the only non-'trust me bro' source is Microsoft itself last year and that was a lie. Don't believe Greg Miller. I never said you should. He is definitely a douche, but that doesn't make him right or wrong.
 
Montauk said:
It's genuinely pointless to post any more articles about any of this at even this early stage because it's clear that most of you decided you knew exactly what happened and why the minute the leadership changes were announced.

No amount of evidence will convince you otherwise from here on out so frankly what is the point of sharing any articles about it that don't completely align with what you instantly decided based on no evidence? There isn't any.

So all of these discussions will be pointless from now on. Look at the hysterical hostility to any suggestion that anything happened in a different way to what you assumed. Any articles making such suggestions will be sneered at and rejected and anything that even vaguely suggest any of your original takes will be grabbed onto as the "right and proper" reporting on this.

It's so obvious.
Click to expand...
Jodie Whittaker Ok GIF by Doctor Who
 
Banjo64 said:
If true she came up with the 'this is an Xbox' ad she should have been fired out of a cannon ages ago.

Click to expand...

Xbox (Play) Anywhere was in 2016.

They can't pin that on her :pie_eyeroll:

news.microsoft.com

Xbox introduces future of gaming beyond console generations and without boundaries - Source

LOS ANGELES — JUNE 13, 2016 — Monday at the Xbox E3 2016 Briefing, Microsoft Corp. unveiled a new family of Xbox One devices, a host of new Xbox Live features and the biggest lineup of games in Xbox history. Head of Xbox Phil Spencer underscored the Xbox team’s commitment to building a future of […]
news.microsoft.com news.microsoft.com
 
Sanepar said:
Their biggest problem is GAMEPASS, results will never improve with day 1 releases on gamepass, xbox players don`t buy games anymore.
Click to expand...

They might not be buying from Microsoft's store, I'll give you that. But saying they're not buying games at all? That's a stretch. :messenger_beaming:
 
Negotiator101 said:
So who would you blame? This is coming from workers within Microsoft, Bond was pushing "this is Xbox" and Spencer at that point was geared towards incorporating Activision.

It obviously doesn't fit with the Gaf it was all Spencer's fault mentality (some are trying to claim he was fired) but she lost focus on what Xbox is and it's now obvious she was allowed the dignity of resigning or face the firing squad. Spencer on the other hand leaves with a "Golden Handshake" and that same smug grin he always had.
Click to expand...
I don't have a hate boner for Phil like others here. But he shares as much blame as Sarah and Nutella here. Everything she did went through them for approval and it aligned with the overall goal leadership wanted.
 
They made her the face of the brand, she did the dirty work, and when it backfired she got pushed out without a second thought.

At least we can assume she was well paid for her work. Sucks that you have to expect hit-pieces like this chasing you to your next job.
 
Lol that article makes no sense, Phil and Bond tried to keep exclusives for as long as they could...remembering the first video with the team explaining the shift...they looked pisses as f.
 
Damn, dunking on Sarah Bond saying that "Xbox Anywhere" was her idea is absolutely fucking brutal lol.

Yeah, that ad campaign was one of the worst ever, but it's not like everything was done by her alone.
 
Last edited:
Kacho said:
I don't have a hate boner for Phil like others here. But he shares as much blame as Sarah and Nutella here. Everything she did went through them for approval and it aligned with the overall goal leadership wanted.
Click to expand...
Not if this is to be believed right? How accurate this is I don't know? I strongly believe Spencer saved Xbox with Gamepass regardless what some think a service doesn't run for 10yrs if it's not generating profit and let's not forget what he inherited from Mattrick.
 
Topher said:
So we have conflicting reports and the only non-'trust me bro' source is Microsoft itself last year and that was a lie. Don't believe Greg Miller. I never said you should. He is definitely a douche, but that doesn't make him right or wrong.
Click to expand...

If he was incorrect with his information it absolutely makes him wrong.

I will happily say I think he is lying.

I could be wrong too.

Just to be clear. I think Gregg is talking bullshit about Phil being fired on Friday. No business would do that with someone to the level of Phils position. You are fine to think otherwise.
 
Last edited:
DenchDeckard said:
We have heard from multiple sources that Phil was known to be retiring as far ago as last August. Totally normal. The article explains why it broke like it did, which does tell us a lot.

Lots of failings at MS that fall solely at Phil's feet.

I am talking about this article and Sarah Bond, it all makes complete sense. She came in, tried to put her stamp on the business like many CEOs do and it didnt work. She had to deal with staff leaving and she rolled with what she thought was right under Phil's sign off.

Everyone was going on about how terrible that marketing campaign was "This is an Xbox" it was BAD. That, is what the article says was Sarahs contribution and Pappa Satya did not like it after seeing the backlash, simple as that.
Click to expand...
It may have been her bad idea, but Phil and Satya should have pushed back. Still its bullkshit that she is being made into the scapegoat.
 
DenchDeckard said:
The industry does nothing but talk about Xbox. I really cant wrap my head around it. It's like every day theres new articles about the company thats in a distant third?

Who gives a shit! - I really don't understand it.

If Xbox is irrelevant, why won't they stop talking about it?
Click to expand...

Everyone likes a good trainwreck. It's interesting to watch and talk about.

Also, there's a lot going on at Xbox. It's newsworthy.

And Xbox isn't irrelevant; it's still a factor.
 
Last edited:
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Microsoft CFO Amy Hood clearly clearly created the referendum to end first party exclusives because they were expecting to show more from the Activision purchase upfront to shareholders. What they've done here so many people below them you can't see that they are the people who should be blamed for this, which was apparent a few years ago. People started blaming Phil now. People are blaming Sarah where is actually the CEO has been the issue the entire time, but people are only now seeing it because their Windows are breaking, well breaking more.

Nadella needs to go, and before anybody goes with Microsoft is worth 10 times over his tenure that growth was going to occur naturally just because of windows in the office ecosystem alone and the progression to cloud was always going to happen that didn't start under him, technical and strategic foundations were laid under Balmer actually.
 
JohnnyFootball said:
It may have been her bad idea, but Phil and Satya should have pushed back. Still its bullkshit that she is being made into the scapegoat.
Click to expand...

Absolutely, they should have. We will never know what convos were had

Bond is clearly being hung out to dry here. Was it her idea? Seems that way if this article is to be believed.

Lets do some simple investigating to see if the article holds weight.

Did the two people leave that it mentions left?

Did the marketing campaign go live after the head marketing guy left?

Was Sarah covering the marketing department?

If we know these answers we know if there is truth to the article. It's very simple.
 
Negotiator101 said:
Not if this is to be believed right? How accurate this is I don't know? I strongly believe Spencer saved Xbox with Gamepass regardless what some think a service doesn't run for 10yrs if it's not generating profit and let's not forget what he inherited from Mattrick.
Click to expand...
What exactly did phil inherit from Mattrick? Xbox one has sold better series consoles. Even if you consider the most favourable sales numbers( according to rumours) series consoles have sold approximately 37 million units. Xbox one sold around 58 million units.

Under phil, Xbox has gone from bad to worse in terms of sales
 
Negotiator101 said:
Not if this is to be believed right? How accurate this is I don't know? I strongly believe Spencer saved Xbox with Gamepass regardless what some think a service doesn't run for 10yrs if it's not generating profit and let's not forget what he inherited from Mattrick.
Click to expand...
Phil Spencer shares blame for the Xbox One just like he shares blame for the state Xbox is currently in.

Phil did good with the One/Series X hardware and his BC initiative was phenomenal, but not everything he did was good. His (and Nutella's) ultimate plan to build a army of Xbros in India through Game Pass and xCloud on Android devices did not materialize. Likewise, their hail mary attempt to boost Game Pass growth with Call of Duty did not materialize. That's why we're here now.

The only thing I believe in the article is that Sarah was not liked internally. Both by regular staff and Microsoft leadership.

But ultimately this article is a form of damage control. It allows Microsoft to wash their hands of the failures over the past couple years and, in their minds, restore faith in the Xbox brand. Assmar, or whatever her name is, will roll out a blades dashboard (that was already in the works) and take credit for it like she's saving Xbox. The glazing has already begun.
 
cireza said:
Damn, dunking on Sarah Bond saying that "Xbox Anywhere" was her idea is absolutely fucking brutal lol.

Yeah, that ad campaign was one of the worst ever, but it's not like everything was done by her alone.
Click to expand...

The thing is they have been everywhere for years, millions upon of PCs, phones, TV apps. Difference this time is PlayStation .
 
Kacho said:
The only thing I believe in the article is that Sarah was not liked internally. Both by regular staff and Microsoft leadership.

But ultimately this article is a form of damage control. It allows Microsoft to wash their hands of the failures over the past couple years and, in their minds, restore faith in the Xbox brand. Assmar, or whatever her name is, will roll out a blades dashboard (that was already in the works) and take credit for it like she's saving Xbox. The glazing has already begun.
Click to expand...


Reading comments on other forums, like this one from REEE

This is 100% how it reads to me as well. "Everything that's wrong with Xbox's strategy was the black woman's fault. Please ignore her boss!"

It really feels like the Verge just regurgitating a list of prepared talking points from Microsoft leadership and vaguely editorializing around them.
Click to expand...

Yeah, Tom Warren's article awful. Revisionist history attempting to scapegoat Sarah Bond.
Disgusting tbh.
Click to expand...

It is surely a damage control from Verge and making Phil Spencer great again. :/
 
viveks86 said:
Did Greg actually claim that he was "fired on Friday"?
Click to expand...


Oh, I'll completely hold my hands up if I am wrong. The clip I saw was just like 20 seconds of him saying....I've just been messaged this before we went live and I've been told he was given the boot. It completely made it out that he was fired on Friday to me.

I don't know how you get fired for 5 months if people knew he was retiring in August. It doesn't make any sense.

If you get shown the door, it's for something like gross miss conduct.

This is all very interesting.
 
Hyper_hyper said:
Reading comments on other forums, like this one from REEE





It is surely a damage control from Verge and making Phil Spencer great again. :/
Click to expand...

Yeah but the place is notorious for industry plants masquerading as fellow gamer posters and they can't stem the bleeding.

Dude, when even purple posters can see through the bullshit..... you done fucked up.
 
Last edited:
DeepEnigma said:
No.

He said that the abruptness of it was clearly "not planned."

Something most with logic and common sense can agree on.
Click to expand...
So it's possible that both conflicting reports are legitimate. Verge may be having sources amongst devs, who are privy to internal memos, attitude towards the management and "office gossip". And Greg (or Sneakers or Heisenberg) are hearing from higher ups, where the political maneuvering happens behind the scenes. From different perspectives, both could be true.
 
I couldn't care less about Sarah Bond as a corporate executive but this entire article reads like the beginning of Microsoft corporate creating the blame narrative for why they're going to get rid of hardware.

"Sorry, Xbox faithful, but Sarah Bond fucked ig up so bad that we can't recover! It's not our fault, honest."
 
DeepEnigma said:
No.

He said that the abruptness of it was clearly "not planned."

Something most with logic and common sense can agree on.
Click to expand...
And this article does a good job of explaining why it was so abrupt. But, we would have to trust Tom Warren to be an honest journalist.
viveks86 said:
So it's possible that both conflicting reports are legitimate. Verge may be having sources amongst devs, who are privy to internal memos, attitude towards the management and "office gossip". And Greg (or Sneakers or Heisenberg) are hearing from higher ups, where the political maneuvering happens behind the scenes. From different perspectives, both could be true.
Click to expand...
I think this is probably more of the truth.

People above Phil wanted him gone, he wanted to be gone after acti blizzard. He looked ILL AS FUCK for years and took a long ass break. It all adds up.

Guy was done, he failed.

Ms was done with him, he failed.

Sarah pushed her angle and marketing. Phil was done.

Current leadership out, bring in the hot little AI bunny!
 
It's about damn time Phil and Sarah were shown the door.

The negative impact they have had on all things Xbox is very significant.

Knowing they were both likely sacked at least indicates there is some hope that Microsoft is recognising the senior staff who are underperforming.
 
Are we really supposed to believe that the multiplatform imperative did not from Microsoft demanding actual profits on games? I thought it was understood that Amy Hood, in particular, advocated for this approach.
 
ByWatterson said:
Are we really supposed to believe that the multiplatform imperative did not from Microsoft demanding actual profits on games? I thought it was understood that Amy Hood, in particular, advocated for this approach.
Click to expand...

Nope. Sarah Bond reached out to Don Mattrick on a burner cellphone and went rogue.

They faked Phil's signature and got the ball rolling.

Nadella was given false reports and finally in Fall of 2025 when Phil was discussing his stealth retirement set for February with Nadella, they pieced it together slowly.

When Phil's stealth retirement was about to happen, they uncovered the Mattrick voicemails on Bond's cellphone and finally confronted her.

Sarah almost got away with it.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

[Verge] Microsoft’s Xbox mode is now available for all Windows 11 PCs
2 3
127
1K
twilo99 replied
[The Verge] Microsoft’s next Xbox, Project Helix, won’t reach alpha until 2027
2
90
2K
Shogmaster replied
  • Poll
[Verge] Xbox is now XBOX
2 3
145
738
MisterXDTV replied
The Verge: Microsoft brings Xbox back, scraps Microsoft Gaming
2
85
926
HerjansEagleFeeder replied
Xbox expands its leadership team with more hires
2 3
110
699
HerjansEagleFeeder replied
Top Bottom