CEO who had ‘central role’ in the release of Xbox consoles leaves Microsoft

A CEO of Microsoft’s Xbox division is going to work for Sonos. Microsoft itself has announced this. The CEO, Marc Whitten, played a “central role” in the development of the various consoles, according to Microsoft.

Whitten has been working on the Xbox since 2000, Microsoft said in a statement on its own website. Whitten is chief product officer within Microsoft’s Xbox division and has played a major role in the release of the Xbox, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.

Microsoft says the rest of the Xbox division’s management team will remain intact and will report to CEO Terry Myerson. Whitten joins Sonos, the maker of audio equipment. Whitten will also serve as chief product officer at Sonos.

More Xbox executives have left Microsoft in the past year. In February, the head of the European Xbox branch, Chris Lewis, left Microsoft and last year Don Mattrick, the head of the Interactive Entertainment Business division, which includes the Xbox division, left.