This does not (probably) mean that Microsoft will now be immediately pivoting its gaming efforts to AI, with Sharma giving an “Everybody please calm down” interview to Variety where she tried to emphasize that “great stories are created by humans.” (She also released a written statement in which she pledged to “not chase short-term efficiency or flood our ecosystem with soulless AI slop,” using a term that Microsoft’s AI-obsessed CEO, Satya Nidella, has bristled at in the past.) That being said, choosing an AI head who’s only been with Microsoft since 2024—instead of Bond, who’s also reportedly leaving, and who’s been part of the company’s gaming team since 2017—does feel hard not to read as a shift in priorities.
Microsoft’s gaming division has had a fairly rough time of it in recent years, despite successes like its subscription gaming service Game Pass, and a number of high-profile acquisitions. (Including schlorping up World Of Warcraft and Diablo creator Activision Blizzard a few years back, a purchase Bond was reportedly instrumental in.) The Xbox X/S consoles simply didn’t sell as well as the rival PlayStation 5 or Nintendo’s Switches, and for all that Microsoft continues to insist that an “Xbox” is any device running Microsoft-based gaming these days, the company has clearly been making major pivots in an effort to stay relevant. Both Spencer and Bond are supposedly staying on in advisory capacities to help Sharma with the transition, but this is a big change at one of the largest gaming concerns on the planet, and at a time when the industry is in an incredible amount of turmoil.
