The leadership of Sarah Bond at Xbox was questioned internally

A report points to internal disagreements and criticism of its strategy within Xbox.

More stories in the category News

• Xbox will talk about Project Helix this week: schedules to watch it in Spain and Latin America
• ZeniMax registers a new Quake trademark and revives rumors about the return of the saga
• Darwin’s Paradox is put to the test: Konami releases a very spectacular demo on Xbox and PC

The departure of Sarah Bond from Xbox surprised many players when it happened following the departure of Phil Spencer, but a report suggests that within the company, the situation was quite different. According to an investigation published by The Verge, her departure may not have been as unexpected for those working on the team.

The report indicates that there were internal tensions related to her leadership style and some strategic decisions, which had raised doubts within the organization over the past few months.

A leadership questioned within Xbox

According to the report, several sources close to the company described Bond as a leader who was “difficult to manage”, pointing out that within the team, an atmosphere had been created where questioning her vision could have consequences within the project structure.

• One of the most mentioned points was the “This is an Xbox” campaign, a communication strategy that aimed to reinforce the idea that any device could be part of the Xbox ecosystem. According to the cited sources, this strategic direction was debated internally on several occasions, as some teams considered that it was not working as expected.
• The report also mentions that Bond did not have the same public profile linked to the gaming world as figures like Phil Spencer, which would have created some distance with part of the community and also with some internal teams.

Still, Bond’s departure may not have been completely unexpected within the company. Several people consulted by the media assure that signals had been perceived since last year, especially due to the frequent rotation of managers who directly reported to her.