Xbox’s Mike Ybarra Is Leaving Xbox and Microsoft After 20 Years To Take on His “Next” Adventure

Mike Ybarra, Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President for Xbox Live and Xbox Game Pass, has announced that he will be leaving the company after 20 years.

Ybarra took to Twitter to announce the news. “After 20 years at Microsoft, it’s time for my next adventure”, he writes. “It’s been a great ride at Xbox and the future is bright. Thanks to everyone at TeamXbox, I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve accomplished and I wish you the best. More soon on what’s next for me (super excited)!”

“Most importantly I want to thank all of you fellow gamers, and our great fans, for all the support. Keep gaming and I hope to see you online soon!””

Ybarra, also known as ‘XboxQwik’, has been popular among the Xbox community and it’s good to know that he’s leaving Microsoft on good terms. Following his announcement, Microsoft’s head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, thanked Ybarra for his contributions to both Microsoft and Xbox over the past 20 years.

Thank you (@XboxQwik) for your many contributions to Microsoft and Xbox. You’ve been a strong advocate for our fans from day one, and have consistently driven to keep gamers at the center of everything we do. All of us at TeamXbox wish you the best.

— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) October 9, 2019

Microsoft hasn’t announced who will be replacing Ybarra. In a statement released to Gamesindustry.biz, Microsoft only said the following:

“In Mike Ybarra’s 20 years at Microsoft, he has had an incredible impact, from shipping multiple editions of Windows to creating AAA games to driving our gaming platform and services. We thank him for his contributions and wish him the best.”

Ybarra joined Microsoft back in 2000 as a system designer. During his career at Microsoft, he fulfilled various positions and moved up as manager and director on various projects, including Windows 7, Xbox Live and the more recent Xbox Game Pass. Back in 2014 he was promoted to corporate Vice President of Xbox program management. His most recent promotion dates from 2017 when he was promoted Corporate Vice President for Xbox Live and Xbox Game Pass.

We wish him the best in the future.