It’s the dawn of a new era for Xbox.
On Friday, Microsoft Gaming announced longtime leader Phil Spencer would be retiring as CEO and that Asha Sharma, Microsoft CoreAI’s head of product development, had been named his successor.
With Spencer having been a staple in the gaming community for decades, Sharma knows she has some big shoes to fill, telling Variety in an interview she has “deep respect” for Spencer’s leadership and the legacy he’s leaving behind to her and now-chief content officer Matt Booty.
Sharma was quick in laying out her top priorities for Microsoft Gaming in an internal memo announcing her promotion, noting “great games,” “the return of Xbox” and the “future of play” as her three main commitments to the gaming community.
So first, what makes a great game for Sharma, whose roles prior to CoreAI include top positions at Instacart and Meta? The new Microsoft Gaming CEO tells Variety it’s all about games with “deep emotional resonance” and “a distinct point of view.” She wants to develop stories that make players “feel something,” like the kind of feelings Campo Santo’s 2016 first-person mystery “Firewatch” elicited in her.
Sharma takes on the mantle as head of the leading competitor to Sony’s PlayStation and Nintendo knowing full well she’s entering the role as an outsider to the larger gaming community and has “a lot to learn” still. But Sharma says she’s got a commitment to “being grounded in what the community is telling us.”
“I’m coming into gaming as a platform builder,” Sharma said, adding that her goal is to “earn the right to be trusted by players and developers” and show the fanbase that “consistency” over time.
In her interview with Variety, Sharma acknowledged the tumultuous state of the gaming industry, referencing Matthew Ball’s recent State of Video Gaming in 2026 report as evidence that the larger “transformation” of the sector is “protecting what we believe in while remaining open‑minded about the future.”
Due to her strong background in AI, initial reactions to Sharma’s appointment have raised concerns about what her specific views are on the use of generative AI in game development. Sharma says her stance is simple: she has “no tolerance for bad AI.”
“AI has long been part of gaming and will continue to be,” Sharma said, noting that gaming needs new “growth engines,” but that “great stories are created by humans.”
Spencer’s exit comes as Microsoft Gaming is approaching its 25th anniversary this fall, an event Sharma is looking forward to ushering in as she sets the stage for the company’s future. Sharma sees it as “a moment to honor the past while setting direction for the next chapter,” which will include big updates out of the upcoming GDC Festival of Gaming next March and even some larger announcements ahead of Xbox’s next Games Showcase presentation this spring.
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