"Sometimes it's just all about ME and nobody else." That was Haiyan Zhang's response on X/Twitter when a commenter suggested her exit from Microsoft resembled rats leaving a sinking ship. Blunt, funny, and honestly kind of refreshing given how much noise surrounds every Xbox departure right now.
Microsoft has confirmed the departures of two more long-serving senior figures: Lori Wright, corporate VP of partnerships, business development, and marketing, and Haiyan Zhang, general manager of gaming AI at Xbox. Both announced their exits via LinkedIn, and both had clocked more than a decade at the company.
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A decade each, gone in the same week
Wright framed her departure warmly but vaguely, describing "an incredible decade" at Microsoft and Xbox. She thanked colleagues and partners who shaped her journey, but kept her next move close to her chest, writing only that she was hoping for "a lot of beautiful sunrises and sunsets, and discovering what lies in the space in between." No firm announcement about what comes next.
Zhang was slightly more forthcoming. She confirmed she had "decided to step into the next phase of her career" and revealed she will be joining Netflix's gaming team. When The Verge's Tom Warren flagged her departure on X/Twitter, Zhang pushed back on the drama with characteristic directness: "It's just a new job, dude. Apparently people do that :)"
She did, however, leave on a genuinely warm note about her time at Microsoft. "At Microsoft, I felt I had truly found my people: a place where I could belong," she wrote, adding that she hoped to carry forward "a culture of curiosity, acceptance, and inclusion."
The bigger picture at Xbox right now
Here's the thing: these two exits don't exist in a vacuum. They follow a string of high-profile departures that have reshaped Xbox's entire leadership structure in a matter of months.
Phil Spencer, the face of Xbox for years, recently announced his retirement after nearly 40 years with Microsoft. Sarah Bond, who many had expected to eventually step into Spencer's shoes, has also departed. The new gaming CEO is Asha Sharma, previously Microsoft's CoreAI president, who is now steering the Xbox ship.
Sharma has already made some noise. Earlier this month, she shared details on Xbox's next-generation console, codenamed Project Helix, which Microsoft says will play both PC and Xbox games and "lead in performance." That's a meaningful signal that Xbox isn't going quiet, even as its senior roster turns over.
For added context, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella spoke late last year about the company's future direction in gaming, explicitly naming Steam as a competitor platform and reframing Microsoft's identity more as a publisher than a traditional console-first company. The direction of travel has been shifting for a while.
What this means for the people left building Xbox
Two senior departures in the same week, on top of everything else, is a lot of institutional knowledge walking out the door. Wright's role spanned partnerships and marketing, two areas that are genuinely critical as Xbox tries to reposition itself heading into the next hardware generation. Zhang's focus on gaming AI is arguably even more pointed given how central AI strategy is to Microsoft's identity right now.
Microsoft hasn't commented publicly on either departure beyond what was shared on social media. Whether these exits reflect broader structural changes under Sharma's leadership, or simply the natural churn that follows any major leadership transition, isn't fully clear yet.
What is clear is that the Xbox of 12 months ago looks very different from the one taking shape today. Keep an eye on how Sharma builds out her team and whether Project Helix announcements start filling the gap left by all this senior movement. For the latest gaming news as this story develops, check out more here:
