How an Indian-origin CEO with no gaming experience is 'fixing Xbox mess'

Seven months into the job, Asha Sharma is overseeing a series of changes across Xbox's gaming business, from a 3,200-job restructuring to changes in cloud gaming and new partnerships

Earlier this month, Xbox made headlines as it announced steps aimed at addressing the economics of its gaming business, including fundamental changes to its subscription model and an expanded partnership with a major player in the industry.

 

The development came months after Asha Sharma took charge as CEO of Xbox in February. Sharma, who had no prior experience in the video game industry, replaced Phil Spencer, who is considered a gaming legend within the community.

 

Seven months into the job, she is overseeing a series of changes across the gaming business, from a 3,200-job restructuring to changes in cloud gaming and new publishing partnerships. A Wall Street Journal report described her as the “woman fixing Xbox mess with brutal honesty”.

  

While the video game market has been booming, Xbox's growth has reportedly been stagnant. The company's revenue of about $23 billion is declining, and the 14,000-person unit's profit margin is a paltry 3 per cent. According to the Wall Street Journal, its subscription of Game Pass subscription have also missed expectations.

 

On September 3, Xbox announced that Game Pass subscribers would face monthly limits on cloud gaming from November. On September 9, Xbox said it had expanded its partnership with Kojima Productions to publish PHYSINT, after PlayStation ended its involvement with the project. These followed the restructuring announced in July.

Who is Asha Sharma?

Sharma was born in Racine, Wisconsin, in 1989. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota in 2011. During college, she also led a community programme for at-risk teenagers in Brooklyn.

 

After graduating, Sharma joined Microsoft's marketing division, where she spent two years. In 2013, she joined Porch Group as chief operating officer. Her work there later earned her a place on Forbes' 30 Under 30 list.

 

Sharma joined Meta in 2017, where she worked on products involving creators, developers and digital ecosystems. Her responsibilities included teams working on Messenger and Instagram Direct.

 

In 2021, Sharma became chief operating officer at Instacart. She was with the company when it went public in 2023.

 

She returned to Microsoft in 2024 as president of CoreAI Product. Her responsibilities included Azure AI, machine-learning systems and other AI products.

 

Sharma has also served on the boards of The Home Depot and Coupang. 

Sharma's three priorities

When Sharma took charge of Xbox, she set out three priorities: "great games", "the return of Xbox" and the "future of play".

 

She said Xbox would invest in established franchises as well as new ideas, while recommitting to console gaming. At the same time, she said Xbox would continue expanding across PC, mobile and cloud.

 

Her third priority was to develop new business models and ways to play. Sharma said Xbox would build tools that allow developers and players to create and share their own stories. She also said the company would not pursue short-term efficiency at the expense of games created by people.

The July reset

The biggest organisational change came on July 6, when Xbox announced plans to eliminate about 3,200 positions during fiscal 2027. Around 1,600 roles were to be eliminated immediately, with further reductions planned during the year. Four studios were also set to leave Xbox under new management.

 

Sharma described the move as the “most significant restructure in XBOX history”. The changes included reducing management layers and reshaping the studio portfolio.

Cloud gaming changes

The next major change came earlier this month, when Xbox said that from November, Game Pass would include a fixed number of cloud-gaming hours each month.

 

Game Pass Ultimate will include 15 hours a month, Premium will include 10 hours and Essential will include five hours. Subscribers will be able to buy additional cloud-gaming time after using their included hours.

 

Xbox also said people without a Game Pass subscription will be able to buy cloud-gaming hours and stream eligible games they already own.

 

Microsoft said the change is linked to the cost of providing cloud gaming. "The cost of offering services in cloud gaming increases as more people use the platform and spend more time playing," Xbox said in its announcement. The company estimates the new limits will affect about 4 per cent of Game Pass subscribers.

A new publishing deal with Kojima

On September 9, Xbox announced an expanded partnership with Kojima Productions to publish PHYSINT. The game had previously been associated with PlayStation. Xbox is already working with Kojima Productions on OD.

 

The partnership will also extend beyond games, with Xbox and Kojima Productions planning to work together on film and television projects.