Microsoft Corp named artificial intelligence (AI) executive Asha Sharma to lead its Xbox and gaming business, replacing Phil Spencer, as the company vowed to recommit to console users after years of developing products for mobile and PC players.
Spencer, who has run the Xbox business since 2014 and was named gaming CEO in 2022 is retiring, the company said.
Xbox president Sarah Bond would also leave, while Xbox Games Studios head Matt Booty would become chief content officer, reporting to Sharma.
Photo: AFP
Sharma, who previously held roles at Instacart and Meta Platforms Inc, was chosen for her consumer expertise and would serve as the chief executive officer of gaming, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella wrote in a blog post on Friday.
The company over the past few years has focused significant effort on broadening beyond its core console audience, aiming at PC and mobile gamers with a spree of acquisitions, including the US$69 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard Inc.
Those moves and others alienated long-time Xbox devotees. Meanwhile, the mobile gaming market slowed and Microsoft’s plans there have lagged.
Microsoft has laid off more than 2,500 gaming employees since 2024, industry tracker Obsidian said.
The company has shuttered studios including Arkane Austin, the Initiative and Tango Gameworks, and canceled games that were in the works for years. The company also angered fans with deals to bring its most significant console games to rival devices from Sony Group Corp and Nintendo Co.
Sharma wants to reverse some of the slide.
“We will recommit to our core Xbox fans and players, those who have invested with us for the past 25 years, and to the developers who build the expansive universes and experiences that are embraced by players across the world,” Sharma said in an e-mail to staff. “We will celebrate our roots with a renewed commitment to Xbox starting with console, which has shaped who we are.”
Sharma has been overseeing Microsoft’s efforts at working with a wide array of AI models, as well as focusing on AI agents, applications and developer tools.
Early last year, when the industry was rocked by the rapid interest in China’s DeepSeek (深度求索) model, Sharma led about 100 engineers working around the clock to respond to Nadella’s demand for a quick response, testing the software and releasing a version for Microsoft’s Azure cloud customers within days.
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