The idea of Xbox being sold or spun off has been around at least since Satya took over. He’s very business focused. I’m guessing “play” isn’t a big part of his life.

I’m sure behind the scenes Phil convinced Satya that he could make Xbox a viable business on par with Windows, and was given a deadline to make it happen. He was partially successful but never got it to the line item necessary, partly because Windows kept growing too, and faster. And, unfortunately for Phil, Xbox Series failed to sell. I’m guessing there won’t be another console generation.

Satya sees it as a failed experiment, I’d bet, and now it’s time to get it properly wrapped up and shoveled off. I think it’s too big to just shutter it, but it will be hard to find a buyer too.