Xbox's Major Nelson has today announced that he is leaving Xbox and Microsoft after over 20 years at the company, telling fans on social media that he intends to "take a step back and work on the next chapter of my career".
In his message, Major Nelson (real name "Larry Hryb") thanked the "millions of gamers around the world who have included me as part of their lives", as well as "Xbox team members for trusting me to have a direct dialogue with our customers". Here's what he had to say on Twitter:
"After 20 incredible years, I have decided to take a step back and work on the next chapter of my career. As I take a moment and think about all we have done together, I want to thank the millions of gamers around the world who have included me as part of their lives.
Also, thanks to Xbox team members for trusting me to have a direct dialogue with our customers. The future is bright for Xbox and as a gamer, I am excited to see the evolution."
We've been seeing Larry on our screens for two decades now, with the Major playing a massive part in promoting the Xbox brand over the years. In recent times, he's also been the host of the official Xbox podcast on YouTube.
As you can imagine, he's been inundated with messages of support from fans since announcing the news, and Xbox boss Phil Spencer also took to Twitter earlier today to share his own personal message of thanks:
"Larry, it has been awesome to work alongside you on this journey. Thank you for being a friend, and for everything you’ve done for our Xbox community and team."
As a personal note from the team here at Pure Xbox, we just want to say thanks to Larry for all his years of dedication to the brand! Major Nelson will undoubtedly go down as a "legend" in the history of Xbox.