- Phil Spencer resigns and retires from Microsoft
- Asha Sharma is the new executive vice president and CEO of Microsoft Gaming
- She will provide new leadership and direction for all things Xbox gaming
It’s a new dawn for Xbox and its millions of dedicated fans. Microsoft announced Friday (Feb. 20) that longtime Xbox chief Phil Spencer is retiring and Asha Sharma is stepping up to the role of CEO of Microsoft Gaming.
Sharma joined Microsoft two years ago after serving as COO of Instacart. Phil Spencer, who started as an intern, is leaving the company after 38 years at Microsoft, the last dozen of which he led Microsoft’s gaming efforts.
Under his leadership, the Xbox business has been transformed, marked by a focus perhaps less on hardware than on platform as a service. It expanded Game Pass and, on the platform, launched several “Day One” versions. The Xbox network, formerly Xbox live, currently has more than 500 million monthly active users. Spencer oversaw the acquisitions of Activision and Minecraft, as well as the release of major game franchises like Halo, Forza and Gears of War.
Spencer is also responsible for the widely derided Game Pass price hikes that saw monthly fees rise 50% from $19.99 per month to $29.99 per month, and his focus on cloud-based services has left some worried that the once vaunted Xbox console is now a second-glass citizen in the Xbox gaming ecosystem.
Yes, Xbox, no, AI
Clearly aware of these and other criticisms, Asha Sharma promised in a blog post “the return of the Xbox.”
“We will celebrate our roots with a renewed commitment to Xbox, starting with the console that shaped who we are. It connects us to the gamers and fans who invest in Xbox, and to the developers who build ambitious experiences for it,” Sharma wrote.
This is good news for Xbox fans, but Xbox faces an uphill battle with the current console which, according to Quantumrun, has a market share of just under 31% compared to the PS5.
Sharma, however, does not initially promise a pure return to hardware. As she notes in her company’s post: “Gaming now exists on all devices, not within the confines of a single piece of hardware.” As we expand across PC, mobile, and cloud, Xbox should feel seamless, instant, and worthy of the communities we serve.
This is more like cloud-based and device-agnostic services.
Sharma also addressed the most controversial technology topic: AI, and advocated for content created by people.
We will not pursue short-term efficiency or flood our ecosystem with soulless AI garbage.
Asha Sharma, CEO of Microsoft Gaming
“As monetization and AI evolve and influence this future, we will not pursue short-term efficiency or flood our ecosystem with soulless AI garbage. Games are and always will be art, designed by humans and created with the most innovative technology provided by us.”
While it’s not yet clear how Sharma and his recently promoted lieutenant, Microsoft Games Chief Content Officer Matt Booty, plan to achieve these goals, there’s no shortage of enthusiasm: “I want to return to the renegade spirit that built Xbox in the first place,” Sharma wrote.
“Together, Asha and Matt have the right combination of consumer product leadership and gaming depth to advance our platform innovation and content pipeline,” Microsoft CEO Satya wrote in his message to staff.
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