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Tag: Asha Sharma

  • New Xbox CEO On Company Strategy: “The Plan’s The Plan Until It’s Not The Plan” – Kotaku

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    In her introduction email to Xbox employees, Asha Sharma, the new CEO of Microsoft Gaming and former president of Microsoft’s CoreAI, promised a return to Xbox. This, among many other things about the announcement, raised some questions, with perhaps the most relevant being, “What does that even mean?”

    Windows Central sat down with Sharma and new CCO Matt Booty to ask just that. Instead of clarifying her plans, Sharma offered vaguely positive-sounding platitudes that amounted to little of substance. “For me, the spirit of ‘Return to Xbox’ is about returning to the spirit that the team was founded on,” Sharma said. “It’s that spirit of surprise, it’s the spirit of building something nobody else was willing to try—I’ve heard ‘renegade,’ ‘rebellion,’ and ‘fun’ used. That’s what I was thinking about when I wrote that.”

    Sharma did, at least, acknowledge that she has a lot of work to do before making any big decisions, but it’s bizarre that Microsoft would just set her loose for interviews when she admits she still has so much to learn about Xbox. When asked about Xbox getting rid of game exclusives and whether or not that policy might be revised, she said, “Right now, I need to learn, candidly. About the ‘why’ of these decisions, what we were optimizing for, and what the data says about the Xbox strategy today. That’s the honest answer. I’m looking at lifetime value, not just what happened in a previous moment, or in short term efficiencies and things like that. The plan’s the plan until it’s not the plan.”

    On the subject of AI, Sharma reiterated that she wouldn’t “flood [the Xbox] ecosystem with slop,” and said she stands by what she wrote in her introduction email. Booty jumped in with further clarification, adding, “We’ve got no pressure from Microsoft, there are no directives on AI coming down.”

    Overall, the interview is light on concrete details about Sharma’s vision for Xbox. As she said, “I think from here, the work is proof over promise.” We’ll just have to wait and see what that work actually looks like.

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    Jen Lennon

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  • Xbox head Phil Spencer is leaving Microsoft

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    Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming, is retiring, Satya Nadella has announced. Asha Sharma, the President of Microsoft’s CoreAI division is taking over Spencer’s role, while Sarah Bond, the current President of Xbox, is resigning.

    “I am long on gaming and its role at the center of our consumer ambition, and as we look ahead, I’m excited to share that Asha Sharma will become Executive Vice President and CEO, Microsoft Gaming, reporting to me,” Nadella says. “Over the last two years at Microsoft, and previously as Chief Operating Officer at Instacart and a Vice President at Meta, Asha has helped build and scale services that reach billions of people and support thriving consumer and developer ecosystems. She brings deep experience building and growing platforms, aligning business models to long-term value, and operating at global scale, which will be critical in leading our gaming business into its next era of growth.”

    In a thread on X, Spencer shared his thoughts on Sharma’s new position. “I’m excited for [Asha Sharma] as she steps into the CEO role,” Spencer wrote. “She’s joining an incredible group of people; teams full of talent, heart, and a deep commitment to the players they serve. Watching her lean in with curiosity and a real desire to strengthen the foundation we’ve built gives me confidence that our Xbox communities will be well supported in the years ahead.”

    Alongside Sharma, Matt Booty, the current head of Xbox Game Studios, is getting promoted to Chief Content Officer, and will report to Sharma. Sarah Bond, who like Spencer served as a public face for the Xbox brand and was assumed to be his successor, is leaving Microsoft to “begin a new chapter.” Bond has yet to make a public statement about her resignation.

    Spencer joined Microsoft in 1988, and has worked on Xbox since at least 2001. He assumed responsibility for Microsoft’s gaming brand and its various studios and associated subscription products in 2013, before becoming an Executive VP of Gaming in 2017 and later CEO of Microsoft Gaming in 2022. Spencer’s biggest impact on Xbox will likely be remembered as the creation of Game Pass, Microsoft’s “Netflix for Games” and the wave of studio acquisitions Microsoft completed from 2018 to 2022, which included smaller studios like Double Fine and the massive $68.7 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard King.

    While Microsoft has plenty of developers and IP to fall back on, it’s struggled to compete with the likes of Sony and Nintendo during the current console generation. Microsoft’s gaming division has gone through widespread layoffs, its revenue continued to fall throughout 2025 and it raised the prices of both its consoles and Game Pass Ultimate, which likely won’t help things going forward. Sharma is in many ways inheriting a broken-down car.

    As far as her plans go, Sharma’s email to staff that was included in Nadella’s announcement is light on details. Sharma says she plans to continue developing “great games,” wants to “recommit” to core Xbox fans and “invent new business models and new ways to play.” Whether that’s enough to turn Xbox’s fortunes around remains to be seen.

    Update, February 20, 4:52PM ET: Added statement from Phil Spencer shared on X.

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    Ian Carlos Campbell

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