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Xbox Chief Product Officer Marc Whitten leaves Microsoft

Whitten is leaving the software giant after 17 years to become chief product officer at wireless company Sonos.

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Marc Whitten at the Xbox One reveal event in Redmond, Wash., last June. James Martin/CNET

Marc Whitten, the chief product officer for the Xbox division, is leaving Microsoft after more than 17 years.

Whitten is leaving the software giant to become the chief product officer at wireless company Sonos, the company announced in a statement Monday afternoon. Whitten's departure comes about four months after the release of the Xbox One, the long-awaited successor to the Xbox 360, and about a week after the high-profile launch of the first-person shooter game Titanfall on the new console.

"It has been the highlight of my career to work on a product so loved," Whitten said in a statement. "It's incredibly tough to leave but I am confident the best days are ahead for Xbox fans, in the capable hands of a very talented team."

Whitten also announced his career move on his Twitter account:

Whitten started working at Microsoft in 1997, serving as a software design engineer for Windows 2000 before becoming one of the founding members of the Xbox core platform team three years later. He later served as general manager of Xbox accessories and integration and vice president of Xbox Live, the company's online gaming service, before becoming Xbox chief product officer in 2010.