Robbie Bach, a Microsoft veteran who launched the Xbox, will leave the company by the end of this year following a series of management changes.

Currently, the forty-eight-year-old Robbie Bach is the president of Entertainment & Devices Division, which produced Xbox.

Xbox business flourished by leaps and bounds, but media gadgets and ventured struggled. Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmer wants to encourage these smaller businesses.

Commenting on his departure, Mr. Bach said, “I’ve been so fortunate to spend more than two decades of my life working with incredible people and doing amazing things like launching Office, Xbox and Xbox Live, the Halo’ franchise, Windows Phones, Zune and more.”

The Redmond-based Microsoft also announced that senior vice president of design and development for the Entertainment &Devices Division, J. Allard, would also leave the firm.

Mr. Ballmer could split the business into two- games business and the mobile device business.

Mr. Bach will not be replaced. Instead the heads of games business and the mobile device business will report directly to the CEO.