In some rather shocking news this week, Phil Spencer, the head of Xbox, has announced his retirement. Alongside him, Sarah Bond, the President of Xbox, has also resigned, with news that Asha Sharma, who had been heading up CoreAI ventures at Microsoft, has taken over Spencer’s position. At the same time, Matt Booty, who was Head of Xbox Game Studios, has been promoted to Chief Content Officer.

This is a big shakeup for the video game industry, and one that is sure to leave many asking questions in the coming months, some of which the new and exiting leadership have tried to get ahead of. Prominently about Asha Sharma, and how much she may try to inject AI into the video game industry and development, which is one of the most prominent discussion topics and hot points when it comes to development.

In a post shared by Microsoft as part of the news, Sharma wrote that “we must have great games below by players before we can do anything,” continuing with:

“To meet the moment, we will invent new business models and new ways to play by leaning into what we already have: iconic teams, characters, and worlds that people love. But we will not treat those worlds as static IP to milk and monetise. We will build a shared platform and tools that empower developers and players to create and share their own stories.

As monetisation and AI evolve and influence this future, we will not chase short-term efficiency or flood our ecosystem with soulless AI slop. Games are and always will be art, crafted by humans, and created with the most innovative technology provided by us.”

She finished off by noting that the “next 25 years belong to the teams who dare to build something surprising,” which seems to double down on the Xbox brand as well as on making great games. She also says in her letter that Xbox “will recommit to our core Xbox fans and players,” which is worth noting in a world where it has seemed for a while that the Xbox brand was on its way out.

Over the past six years, since the launch of the Xbox Series X|S, the Xbox brand has begun to decline, known more as a publisher than a house of great studios, or even a must-own gaming console. They bought Activision and Blizzard, added many other studios to their portfolio, while also laying off thousands of workers across the years, closing studios, and generally seemed to be struggling to sell their console, so much so that they pivoted super-hard into the ‘everything is an Xbox’ marketing and made sure that the box itself became redundant. Play Xbox on your TV, your PC, your handheld PC, hell, even your PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch.

In his letter talking about his new role and welcoming Asha Sharma to Xbox, Matt Booty said:

“Looking forward, I’m excited to partner with Asha as our next CEO. Our first conversations centered on her commitment to making great games and the role that plays in our overall success. She asks questions, pushes for clarity, and wants our choices grounded in player and developer needs.”

In the closing notes of his letter, Phil Spencer noted he is “grateful for [Sarah Bond’s] partnership and the impact she’s had,” and closed with:

“I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve built together over the last 25 years, and I have complete confidence in all of you and in the opportunities ahead. I’ll be cheering you on in this next chapter as Xbox’s proudest fan and player.”

What do you think of this change-up at Xbox? Let me know in the comments section below.