Mike Ybarra departs from Xbox after 20 years

Xbox Corporate Vice President Mike Ybarra has departed from the Xbox team after 20 years at Microsoft.

Taking to Twitter to announce his departure,  the ex-VP has yet to announce what his next move is.

“After 20 years at Microsoft, it’s time for my next adventure,” Ybarra tweeted. ” It’s been a great ride at Xbox and the future is bright. Thanks to everyone at TeamXbox, I’m intelligent proud of what we’ve accomplished and I wish you the best.”

“More 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!”

Joining Microsoft in 1999 as a hardware engineer, Ybarra quickly proved his worth, eventually being moved to General Manager for Windows 7. Since then, Ybarra became General Manager for Xbox Live, then to Partner Studio Manager for Xbox Studios and then Corporate VP.

As one of the voices behind Xbox 360 backward compatibility and Xbox games on PC, Ybarra has helped to enhance the Xbox One family after the departure of Don Mattrick.

After Ybarra announced his leave, Xbox head Phil Spencer said goodbye to his friend.

“Thank you for your many contributions to Microsoft and Xbox,” Spencer said. “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.”