Xbox console marketing lead Albert Penello leaves Microsoft

Albert Penello, Microsoft's senior director of console marketing, announced today that he is leaving the company. The move marks the end of an 18-year career at Microsoft. Penello made the announcement on Twitter, calling his time at Xbox a "once in a lifetime experience"

Prior to his time at Microsoft, Penello worked as a product marketing manager at EA beginning in 1994. Penello joined Microsoft as a director of marketing in 2000 and helped drive marketing plans for the original Xbox, Xbox 360, and Kinect. Over the years, Penello's responsibilities have grown, culminating in his current position overseeing strategic marketing and planning for all Xbox devices around the world.

There's no word on where Penello is heading next, but we wish him well. You can read a longer goodbye message Penello posted to Facebook below.

Well, it's hard to believe I'm posting this, but after almost 18 years I made the decision to leave Microsoft. There aren't the words to describe how much Xbox has meant to me, but even more important are all the amazing people I got to work with.

I'm going to miss seeing these people every day, and there will never be another time in my career as monumental as what I got to be a part of.

But - it's time for a change. Time to learn new things and challenge myself again. I'm excited about my new opportunity and I'll be talking more about that soon. In the meantime, I'm going to take a few weeks off to recharge before I start the new job, and reflect a lot on the amazing time I've had at Xbox.