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Phil Spencer Retiring, Sarah Bond Out, Microsoft AI Exec Asha Sharma Named New Xbox Boss

Big changes are being made at the top of Microsoft's gaming division.

CrashMania102d ago (Edited 102d ago )

MS knack for one upping bad news from other companies so soon afterwards is pretty astounding lol. Can't say I'm surprised though, this gen has been dreadful for the xbox brand.

Being replaced by an AI boss exec though, yikes.

102d ago Replies(8)
-Foxtrot102d ago

I always had this theory that they both wait to see if the other announces something bad so they can announce their bad thing, thus the two talking points bleed together enough to cause overall confusion online.

It then becomes just a big bad thing for the industry rather than a specific company. Wouldn't be surprised if Ubisoft were up next again at this point.

Eonjay101d ago

I have to agree with you. As if this decision was made today. Yeah right lol

darthv72102d ago (Edited 102d ago )

Huh... well that is sure interesting.

@crash, is it bad news though? I mean many here have said he needed to leave... now he and Bond are leaving. That should be good news to some.

Extermin8or3_102d ago

It's more the fact the person incharge of AI being taking over. That's a very deliberate decision.

Profchaos102d ago

Xbox fans have wanted Phil gone for a long time he's probably the least favourite exec of all time behind matrick purely because uber his leadership he decived fans and took the Xbox brand multiplatform

badz149102d ago

Indian takeover of Microsoft

PapaBop101d ago

Considering MS's obsession with ai, this is probably a demotion for her. Still, I enjoy poking fun at Spencer but ultimately it's sad to see him go, he's made mistakes for sure but I think he genuinely cared about the Xbox brand. Sharma seems very corporate to me and certainly not the Spencer replacement Xbox fans would have hoped for.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 101d ago
Neonridr102d ago

maybe some new blood can help improve things.

Sitdown102d ago

That's not what us happening here, push for AI.

102d ago
Sonic1881102d ago (Edited 102d ago )

Wow 😂 Sarah Bond is more of a surprise

102d ago Replies(7)
-Foxtrot102d ago

I'm convinced "early retirement" is just them wanting to save both themselves the embarrassment and them getting forced out without the drama.

You bow out naturally while we make it all look like it's part of the plan, both of us look as competent as we can make out during the fallout

Jim Ryan was the exactly the same.

102d ago Replies(1)
A07102d ago

“ Phil has 3 days to clean out his office?”

Why spread fake news? The press release clearly says that Phil and Sarah are staying on throughout the summer to advise the new person.

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60°

Take-Two CEO Once Again Side Steps Grand Theft Auto 6 Price Point

Strauss Zelnick says price of GTA 6 is being carefully considered and that Rockstar is focused on "making the most spectacular piece of entertainment on Earth."

Kuma34d ago

If GTA 6 abandons everything that made GTA 5 great, it will crash and burn right out of the gate. GTA 5 was funny and not at all PC. My worry is that they will cave to the PC crowd and ruin the vibes.

Eonjay34d ago

They got freaking BBLs twerking on the top of trucks for the gram, the freaking Flordia joker, and dude running down the stree in their undies and you are worried about it being 'too PC'? The internet has runied gamers. It doesn't matter how non-PC they make the game, you will all listen to the grifters telling you not to believe your lying eyes lol.

gigoran834d ago

"Rockstar Games’ co-founder and former VP of Development Jamie King said he envisions GTA 6 as a game that’s “maybe not quite as edgy or quite as funny” as its satirical predecessors."

oh yeah, totally internet grifters spreading rumors...

blacktiger34d ago

That's part of the plan, they destroyed you but they need to destroy the shareholders? Only 1 shre holder is the true elite that don't care

1nsomniac34d ago (Edited 34d ago )

Meh.., if it’s above £55 I ain’t buying it.

Rockstar are genuinely not half the company they used to be. I was a die hard GTA fan I’ve purchased every game and expansion and spin off day 1.

My opinion of GTA6 is that I can take it or leave it. Not bothered. They burnt too many bridges.

DaReapa34d ago (Edited 34d ago )

So they're actually leaving the door open for an L.A. Noire sequel? Nice!

VaNdAl34d ago (Edited 34d ago )

He should just come out and say it already it's getting stupid it's going to be a 100 bucks $200 for the special edition🤡🤡; 29315;🤣♿

Storm2334d ago

I won't be getting this game until I can get it for $70. SHoot, I could wait for it to be even lower. I don't need the game that badly as my backlog is still huge and I am enjoying playing other things.

Show all comments (13)
40°

Talking Aliens: The Video Games With Author Mike Diver

Skewed and Reviewed have posted an interview with Author Mike Diver about his pending book on Aliens video games.

70°

Xbox boss: Memory crisis could impact next-gen hardware pricing

Xbox boss Asha Sharma has discussed how component shortages will impact the company's plans for Project Helix.

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gamedeveloper.com
Eonjay35d ago

When does this end? Its killing everyone. Consoles and PC. And for what? AI? The benefits of AI are completely outweighed by the negatives. And the government should have never allowed one company to buy up all the RAM.

Lexreborn236d ago

This kind of proves this is an after thought product, most products like this are in r&d 5 years before they start mass producing. So they typically have the cost of components and things worked out long before assembly starts.

This is an assumption still, but I wouldn’t be surprised if project helix is similar to Scalebound,perfect dark and sod3. They had an idea but no actual execution other than concept stage. Being impacted by the ram shortage likely would also put this device 3-4 years out.

I’m not even sure MS has that endurance with Xbox yet

Fishy Fingers36d ago (Edited 36d ago )

I mean.... what?

We're at a point that Samsung wont even provide their own phone department ram because they can sell it at higher prices to 3rd parties (AI). Its more profitable to sell the ram than make their own devices with it.

You think because R&D starts 5 years ago the 3rd party component manufacturers will honour that price? They'll sell it to whomever is paying the most today, not some gentlemens agreement they made years ago. AI farms will buy more volume at higher prices than any console manufacturer will. It'll be the same for Playstation.

Lexreborn235d ago

Contractual agreements are not the same as “gentlemen” agreements. If you think that they work with their distributors a month before production then their entire business model is trash. They work with companies like nvidia constantly for building the graphics cards they need. They work with companies that build motherboards years in advance. This is what proper business planning does.

They are not buying components on a whim like a consumer. So again, considering the ram isn’t a singular module and is integrated into the motherboard I highly doubt they wouldn’t have a final schematic that they are supposed to be building around.

If they are delaying production another 3 years then it’s obvious again this is an after though project and is just trying to be responsive to their bad execution they had the last 14 years.

It also isn’t far fetched to use their failure to produce first party titles the last 7 years including the highly anticipated games I mentioned all being cancelled. That they would continue to you know… lie

Sitdown35d ago

You don't really know how this works huh?

Profchaos36d ago (Edited 36d ago )

Helix is going to be stupidly expensive

Instead of leaning into smarter upscaling techniques they're brute forcing hardware that will cost them dearly and it remains to be seen if it's genuinely going to provide a meaningful differential

I know in the oc.doace people like to brag about not using frame gen or dlss to get to high on a game but for the majority of players they happily use those technologies without a second thought

That's going to be ps6 vs Helix

Eonjay35d ago

Yeah with FSR 5 they should be able to offer a much cheaper version of Helix.

Eonjay35d ago

While this does seem to be the case, I am encouraged by the statement from Microsoft about wanting to provide affordable options. If this means a Series S style Helix, at least there will be something affordable being offered.

XBManiac35d ago

Series S is what has killed Xbox Series so... Will they dare?

blacktiger36d ago

It's called systematic inflationary. Yes we get it Microsoft, keep raising in the name ofall kinds of stuffs

pwnmaster300036d ago

Honestly if there was thing I learned from this generation is that new consoles arnt day one anymore.
I can wait 1-3 years.

DarXyde36d ago

Another important lesson from this generation: while Nintendo showed us that prices don't necessarily need to ever drop, we've now learned that waiting 1-3 years does carry some risk that prices increase. This generation is just bizarre in all the wrong ways.

LucasRuinedChildhood35d ago (Edited 35d ago )

The factors are largely external. Covid and Russia-Ukraine war causing inflation led to the first price increase in 2022.

Then we get Trump's tariffs increasing hardware prices, AI boom causing a RAM crisis, war on Iran causing a worldwide fuel crisis which impacts the cost of everything.

Gaming doesn't exist in a vacuum. The last few years have been a shitshow and lot of it was definitely avoidable.

DarXyde35d ago

LucasRuinedChildhood,

For sure. No disagreement on the external factors doing a lot of this. Where I have to gently push back however is on two fronts:

1. The pandemic definitely caused some issues: asynchronous development was a big issue and really complicated timelines and affected game quality. At the same time, when it comes to price hikes, it's really difficult to know what was genuine necessity and what was taking consumers for a ride. The pandemic brought about "stag-flation" which was increasing prices and stagnant wages, which was a problem caused by supply chain constraints. There was also "Greed-flation", where companies that were slightly affected or had no issues took advantage of the situation and squeezed everyone citing supply chain issues when there were none.

2. It's definitely true that the tariffs, AI boom, and RAM crisis were all things enabled by tech broligarchs throwing money at this caricature of a world leader, one of them being Satya Nadella. I don't think Sony and Nintendo have contributed much to this problem if at all, but Microsoft's Nadella I feel was instrumental in causing every one of those issues. Microsoft as a company contributed to both candidates (though they gave Harris 4x as much if I recall), but Nadella was all in on letting AI run wild. He paid for unregulated AI, and got a war that's not a war (even though Trump called it that at least five times on television) that screwed up helium access. So for me, I feel that one of the players in the gaming industry is a key architect of these issues, and for that reason I struggle a bit to think of it as "external".

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