"This isn't an insurgency": Xbox co-founder says Phil Spencer exhausted himself "managing the beast" at Microsoft to "try to do the right thing for games," and he feels "worst" for Sarah Bond

Xbox co-founder Seamus Blackley thinks now-former Xbox boss Phil Spencer might have exhausted himself trying to prop up the game side – but the person he's most concerned about in the aftermath Microsoft's leadership shakeup is ex-president Sarah Bond, who's just resigned after almost 10 years with Xbox.

"The person who I feel worst for is Sarah Bond, who was more than capable from a leadership standpoint," Blackley tells GamesBeat in a new interview. "Super cool, actual gamer."

Unlike Bond, who was once thought of as Spencer's natural successor, Spencer's actual replacement Asha Sharma was previously president of Microsoft's CoreAI product and has no direct gaming experience. Blackley reminisces that, back in the day (he left Microsoft in 2002), Xbox leadership was a blend of different people and experiences – but "it's never this balance of people that makes something work. The balance is what enables something to happen, but you need to have an idea that people drive through that remains pure somehow."

Helpfully, he thinks, "This is different from Asha." Unlike the power struggle at early Microsoft, "This isn't an insurgency. This is kind of like, 'We're hoping that the new person who's been put in charge of our department, who doesn't have any background in what we do, will not fuck with us too much and will let us do the right thing.'"

Just 48 hours into Sharma's tenure, all anyone can do is speculate, even Blackley. But at this uncertain time for Xbox, one thing is obvious: "The game that Phil had been playing for a long time," Blackley continues, "managing the beast so that he could continue to try to do the right thing for games, I think that finally just wore him out."

Xbox will be "sunsetted" under new CEO, original co-founder expects: "Her job is going to be as a palliative care doctor who slides Xbox gently into the night."