Microsoft’s former VP of games shared his thoughts on the new Xbox CEO

2 weeks ago

3 minutes read

Microsoft's former VP of games shared his thoughts on the new Xbox CEO

To say it’s been a wild week for Microsoft and Xbox would be an understatement; Last Friday, the company announced that Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer is retiring, with CoreAI Product president Asha Sharma replacing him, Matt Booty moving up to EVP and Chief Content Officer, and Xbox president Sarah Bond leaving the company.

It’s a major shakeup of Xbox leadership, and one that many fear, even after Sharma vowed to focus on “big games,” “the return of Xbox,” and “the future of gaming” — and assured fans the last thing he wants to do is “chase short-term efficiency or flood our ecosystem with soulless AI.”

“First, the relationship between Matt [Booty] and Asha Sharma – reminds me of the relationship between Robbie [Bach, former president of entertainment and devices] again [I]. I was very hands-on, trying to build content, build games, and Robbie was managing Bill and Steve, sales and marketing, things like that. For the most part, that worked out pretty well. I see it as a return to this type of building, which I think would be good,” he said.

Photo of new Microsoft Gaming CEO Asha Sharma and Xbox CCO Matt Booty. (Image credit: Microsoft (edited by Windows Central)

Fries went on to talk about how it’s ultimately okay that Sharma doesn’t have playing experience, because Matt Booty does, and he’ll be working closely with Sharma while he focuses on the business side of things. “As long as each person respects what the other person does well,” he asserts, “that can work well.”

“Matt is really good at what he does. He comes from the sports business, he’s very focused on the games, he’s been there for a long time. Asha doesn’t seem to have any real knowledge of the game, but that was true when I worked for Robbie, too. Robbie didn’t come with any knowledge of the game. As long as each person respects what the other person does, that can work well,” he said. “There’s a lot of work to be done at Microsoft to just deal with the company, keep the company on track, and fit what you’re doing at Xbox into a larger company system.”

“I’m not worried that Asha doesn’t come with game experience. I think that will be fine. Maybe that’s a problem that some people have had. I’ve heard a little about him. He’s been described to me as smart and talented,” he added. “I heard a story about him when he was a trainee working for someone, a long time ago. The people in the company all decided that they would work for him one day. He was good.”

It is an argument related to the point that my colleague and the editor-in-chief of Windows Central Jez Corden recently expressed while discussing his thoughts on the change of leadership, which is the area of Sharma’s expertise – creating dangerous communication programs such as Facebook Messenger, in which he has a big hand – undoubtedly Xbox needs to grow as a product. A game-specific guide can finally appear on Booty.

In the end, only time will tell how successful Sharma and Booty will be in charting the future of Xbox (our exclusive interview with the two is a great read; they talk about what you can expect going forward if you’re an Xbox fan). But I find myself agreeing with Fries that Sharma’s lack of experience in the sport is not a bad sign if you don’t look at it from a vacuum.

Do you agree with Ed Fries? Sound off!

Do you find yourself agreeing with Ed Fries that it’s okay for Asha Sharma to have no gaming experience even though she’s now the new Xbox CEO? Why or why not? Sounded off in the comments.

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