Goodbye Xbox

I haven’t posted on this site since December, 2022. A few big things happened since then:

• I got divorced in March 2023 (it was already happening by that last post I wrote, I just didn’t include it)
• I gave my first keynote, at Romanian Testing Conference in Cluj-Napoca, Romania in June 2023
• I continued work on Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020, while also working on Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 (more on this below) through December 2025
• I adopted a new doggo, a tripawd named Lizzie, in March 2024
• I was lucky enough to land a role working on experimental test automation tools within Xbox Game Studios Quality, jumping headfirst back into test automation starting January 2026
• I was included in the workforce reductions on July 6, 2026, and lost my dream job at Xbox

I want to step back to my work on Microsoft Flight Simulator, and at Xbox in general.

From when I started at Xbox on July 18, 2022 through December 2025, I worked on both Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 and 2024 (MSFS20 and MSFS24). I started as the team was preparing to ship the 40th anniversary edition of MSFS20, and MSFS24 was in planning. MSFS24 was the first video game (simulator!) I worked on from start to launch, and I could not be more proud to have my name in the credits of a title! Sure, we had a bumpy launch, but MSFS24 was an incredible leap from MSFS20 in many ways. We then worked to launch MSFS24 onto PlayStation 5, which had it’s own challenges and lessons.

While I found the work rewarding, and I really did work with the BEST TEAM EVER, I can’t handle long stretches of crunch like I used to. A lot of the work I was doing was planning and manual testing, with no real chance to write code like I ultimately wanted. Super impactful and rewarding work with incredible people, but I wanted to slow down a bit and write more code.

I do have to say, I learned so much during my time on MSFS, and I will never forget it – from the late nights/early mornings with our colleagues at Asobo in Bordeaux, to the trips to Bordeaux and Tempe and of course Redmond (and Woodinville, that pizza calls my name!), to the comradery of the incredible group of people that work on MSFS. I love y’all, and miss you!

I was able to move over to work with folks in the Xbox Game Studios Quality Central team, that developed automation frameworks and tools (among other things), and needed help from the perspective of a quality engineer on a title for the implementation and maintenance of those tools. So I was back to writing C# again after years of barely touching an IDE. I had some time to ramp up on the latest (going from .NET 3 to .NET 8!), learn the tooling, and then jump in experimenting. I chose a title in development and developed some automation using the various tools being built, shared feedback, implemented fixes, etc. Then we got to a point where it felt like that exercise had run its course, and I was assigned to develop some real, impactful automation using all of the tools available this time, with an emphasis on the experimental ones. I found this work very rewarding – I was learning from the new incredible team I was on, and really enjoying my role. The test suite I was implementing used the new framework and a mix of new and older technologies in the stack; there was a lot of learning of those tools as well as Unreal Engine, and digging back into C++ (it had been since like 2009!).

When rumors of the layoffs came in June, I immediately felt vulnerable this time around – I was in a made-up position working on experimental things and yet to deliver anything concrete. So I wasn’t really surprised (still devastated!) when I was laid off on July 6. I was about a week away from delivering the MVP of the test automation suite when I got the news, so I had to hand that off and hope someone else can cross it over the finish line.

I’ll miss Xbox, and hope I can make it back there someday.

 

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So, what’s next for me?

Other than finally updating this website, I’m taking a step back to reassess what I want to do with this next stage of my career. It all starts with lists to guide me: What do I Need, What do I Want, What do I Not Want. I’ve done this for several major decisions in my life, and I find it works well to help me see things clearly and not focus on the shiny perks that can distract from what I know doesn’t work for me. I’ve been in software quality for 19 years now, and I’ve held positions from QA Analyst to Quality Architect to Quality Lead, and everything in between. I’ve got a lot to think about!

While I’m still populating these lists and figuring out my next move, I appreciate any Recommendations on LinkedIn, and fully remote software quality jobs thrown my way in the meantime!