Robbie Bach, Microsoft’s president of entertainment and devices, and J. Allard, one of the father’s of Xbox, have announced their leave at Microsoft today.
According to Bach, he’s retiring from the company in order to spend more time with his family and do charity work.
“At Microsoft, I’ve been so fortunate to spend more than two decades of my life working with incredible people and doing amazing things like launching Office, Xbox and Xbox Live, the ‘Halo’ franchise, Windows Phones, Zune and more,” Bach said (via MCV).
“I’m at the time in my life where I want to dedicate more time to my family and my non-profit work, including my work with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
“I have the utmost confidence in Steve, Don and Andy and their ability to see through our mission of bringing extraordinary entertainment and mobility experiences to life for people around the world.”
J. Allard on the other hand, while also leaving the company, will remain an adviser to Steve Ballmer, “helping incubation efforts, looking at design and UI, and providing a cross-company perspective on these and similar topics.”
Thanks, Kotaku.
I’ll always remember those pre launch 360 videos with J Allard talking about the design of the console etc.
Anyway, as long as their leave doesn’t effect the business it’s OK, but it’s always a strangely strange feeling have long time characters like these leave the business. Oh well, I wish them luck with their next endevours!