Rumours that Phil Spencer is set to retire from his position as the head of Xbox are untrue. 

That's according to Xbox comms boss Kari Perez, who told The Verge that the exec was not stepping down as the head of Microsoft's games business "any time soon". 

Word that Spencer was on the way out came via Call of Duty leaker GhostofHope who took to Twitter to announce the Xbox boss' departure. They added that Xbox president Sarah Bond would be replacing Spencer as the head of Microsoft Gaming. 

Responding to a news story on the matter, Microsoft comms boss Frank Shaw replied saying that the news was entirely "made up" on Twitter.  

Word of Spencer's departure comes amid a malestrom of bad news for Microsoft's games business. The Xbox division has been hit with its fourth round of layoffs in 18 months while projects – including Everwild and Perfect Dark – have been closed. Meanwhile, the company's The Initiative studio is being shut down, too.