Microsoft has lost another two long-serving members of its senior team: corporate VP of partnerships, business development, and marketing, Lori Wright, and general manager of gaming AI at Xbox, Haiyan Zhang. Both announced their departures on LinkedIn.
Wright is leaving after “an incredible decade” at Microsoft and Xbox, and though she thanked colleagues, partners, and friends who “shaped [her] journey”, she did not expand on her next steps, only writing: “As for what comes next, I’m hoping for a lot of beautiful sunrises and sunsets, and discovering what lies in the space in between”.
Zhang similarly served at Microsoft for more than a decade, writing that she had “decided to step into the next phase of [her] career, which will take [her] on a new adventure beyond Microsoft”. She will be joining Netflix’s gaming team.
When The Verge’s Tom Warren announced Zhang’s departure on X/Twitter, she replied, “It’s just a new job, dude. Apparently [people] do that :)”, and when another commenter likened her resignation to “the rats leaving a ship”, she responded: “sometimes it’s just all about ME and nobody else”.
“At Microsoft, I felt I had truly found my people: a place where I could belong,” she added. “I hope I carry forward some small piece of the culture we built together: one of curiosity, acceptance, and inclusion”.
The high-profile exits follow the retirement of Xbox CEO Phil Spencer and the departure of Sarah Bond, who many had presumed would eventually succeed Spencer.
Earlier this month, Xbox shared a brief but key update about its next-generation console. Codenamed Project Helix, it will be able to play PC games as well as Xbox ones, and will “lead in performance” according to Microsoft’s newly-announced gaming CEO Asha Sharma, who is taking over from Phil Spencer following last month’s shock news that the Xbox head would be retiring from Microsoft after nearly 40 years with the company.
Towards the end of last year, Microsoft boss Satya Nadella spoke about the company’s future plans, including direct mention of PC storefront Steam as a competitor platform, and Microsoft’s current significance as a video game publisher.
