In case you missed it, Xbox underwent a massive shake-up at the end of last week. As part of those changes, Microsoft CEO of Gaming Phil Spencer announced his retirement after years of running the company’s gaming efforts, with Xbox president Sarah Bond also confirming her departure. Xbox Games Studio boss Matt Booty has also been promoted to chief content officer.
Replacing Spencer effective today is Asha Sharma, who joined Microsoft in 2024 and previously headed up the company’s CoreAI division. Naturally, her prior role has drawn a lot of scrutiny, especially since Microsoft has been investing billions into AI and been promoting anti-art initiatives like an AI-generated version of Doom. (Company CEO Satya Nadella also gets really upset when people use the term “AI slop.”)
Now, in an interview with Variety, Sharma has attempted to address concerns regarding how her previous AI experience might affect Xbox. In the piece, she tells the publication that her stance is that she has “no tolerance for bad AI.” While she notes that AI has long had a place in games and will continue to do so, she acknowledged that “great stories are created by humans.”
This follows a memo she sent to Microsoft employees pushing back against “soulless AI slop” in gaming. “As monetization and AI evolve and influence this future [of gaming], we will not chase short-term efficiency or flood our ecosystem with soulless AI slop,” wrote Sharma. “Games are and always will be art, crafted by humans, and created with the most innovative technology provided by us.”
In addition to AI, people have expressed concerns that Sharma doesn’t have any prior career experience with gaming. Before leading Microsoft CoreAI, Sharma held executive roles at Instacart and Meta. To this point, Sharma joined X (Twitter) over the weekend to engage with the community and ask them for feedback. For instance, she responded to comments criticizing Xbox’s lack of exclusives by saying “hear you.”
Interestingly, The Verge has also published a behind-the-scenes report of what’s been going on at Xbox amid all of this. According to the publication, Xbox employees have been frustrated with the company’s confusing platform-agnostic “This is an Xbox” messaging, which was attributed to Bond. She was also criticized internally for being tough to work with, although she garnered praise for striking deals with third-party companies. In the same report, The Verge notes that employees are concerned with Sharma’s AI background and lack of gaming experience, but have praised her enthusiasm and willingness to learn.
Ultimately, it will be interesting to see what comes out of Xbox under Sharma. The shake-ups come during a particularly pivotal time for the brand. Not only is it perceived as being a distant “last place” to PlayStation and Nintendo, but it’s also celebrating its 25th anniversary this year — a milestone which will include big releases like Forza Horizon 6 (May), Fable (autumn), and Vancouver-based The Coalition’s Gears of War: E-Day (TBA). The company is also reportedly planning to launch its next console in 2027.
Clearly, then, Sharma has her work cut out for her.
