Microsoft shook up the leadership of its Xbox division in a late Friday news dump that revealed the retirement of longtime Xbox head Phil Spencer and the new CEO, Asha Sharma.
Sharma was previously the head of product development for Microsoft's CoreAI, and had stints at Instacart and Whatnot, a "living shopping platform." In an announcement letter, Sharma stated that her first job is to "understand what makes this work and protect it."
Since the reveal, she spent this past weekend bolstering her gaming bona fides against the tidal wave of the usual nefarious sorts you'll see on "Gaming Twitter."
Sharma is stepping into a tumultuous time in gaming. Between Xbox's lagging sales and the ongoing RAM crisis, she will need to weather a few different storms.
What Sharma is saying so far?
Sharma is stepping into some big shoes, so outside of an attempt to appease gamers, what is she saying about the future of Xbox?
We have some answers thanks to an interview she gave to Variety. In her internal memo, Sharma said that her commitment to Xbox required three things: great games, the return of Xbox, and understanding the future of play. "We are witnessing the reinvention of play," she wrote.
A great game to Sharma has "deep emotional resonance" and a "distinct point of view." She added that she wants to make stories that make players "feel something," highlighting the excellent indie game Firewatch.
“I’m coming into gaming as a platform builder,” Sharma told Variety. She added that the goal is to be consistent and earn the trust of players and developers.
She acknowledged that she has a lot to learn but is committed to "being grounded in what the community is telling us."
Sharma's background in AI has been a concern, with some backlash against the potential use of generative AI in development. Sharma said she has "no tolerance for bad AI," while adding that AI has been and will continue to be a part of gaming.
But she does note that “great stories are created by humans," echoing a similar sentiment from her announcement letter.
The future of Xbox
For now, we have platitudes, and it might take a minute for action to show up. We'll see what direction Xbox faces during the Game Developers Conference in March and an expected Xbox Games Showcase later this spring.
Meanwhile, The Verge is reporting that former president Sarah Bond was pushing the gaming division at Microsoft in a direction that employees disagreed with, from the "Xbox everywhere" strategy to pushing for multi-platform access.
Sharma's hiring is seen as a reset button, so it will be interesting to see how she pivots away from the previous strategy.
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