Microsoft announced Friday that its longtime gaming chief, Phil Spencer, is retiring after 38 years with the company, marking a significant leadership transition for the software giant’s gaming business.
The company said Asha Sharma will step into the role as executive vice president and chief executive officer of the gaming division. Sharma previously oversaw product development for Microsoft’s artificial intelligence models and services, a portfolio that has become increasingly central to the company’s broader strategy.
Within hours of the announcement, some users on social media began criticizing the decision to elevate Asha Sharma to lead the company’s gaming division, including the Xbox brand. A small but vocal segment of commenters accused Microsoft of promoting what they described as “Indian nepotism,” a charge that spread across gaming forums and X.
The changes do not stop there.
Sarah Bond, who has been serving as president of Xbox, is also preparing to step down. Matt Booty, the current head of game studios, will take on the role of chief content officer and report directly to Asha Sharma.
Satya Nadella shared the updates in a company blog post on Friday, outlining what he described as the next phase of leadership for Microsoft’s gaming business.
Sharma most recently served as president of Core AI Product at Microsoft, where she oversaw key artificial intelligence offerings. The company pointed to her experience building consumer products as a central reason for her selection. Before joining Microsoft’s AI leadership team, she held senior positions at Instacart and Meta. She has also served on the boards of The Home Depot and Coupang.
Sharma’s history with the company goes back more than a decade. Early in her career, she worked in Microsoft’s marketing division before leaving in 2013. She returned two years ago to take on a senior leadership role overseeing core AI products, placing her at the center of the company’s artificial intelligence push.
Her elevation to lead the gaming division has not been without pushback. On X, some users questioned her lack of hands-on experience in the gaming business. One user wrote: “Asha Sharma, the new head of Xbox, is an AI executive with no background in gaming.”
Another user tied Sharma’s promotion to a broader anti-immigrant narrative, writing: “Microsoft is literally just indian nepotism now. That’s the whole company. Have you wondered why they rolled out an update that bricked hundreds of thousands of computers? Why OneDrive doesn’t work but keeps enabling itself? Why an instacart employee is handling gaming? Indian nepotism. That’s the whole company now.”
“I’m sure I need 6 years of software development experience, a 4.0 GPA at a top university, and 20 side projects to get a minimum wage internship at Microsoft, but the CEO knows nothing about video games,” while one commented.
Another user wrote: “Why is every American tech company run by Indians now?”
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As the debate intensified, one post circulating on X pulled details from Asha Sharma’s LinkedIn profile and argued she had “Never held a postion for more than 4 years (climbing the corp ladder).” The author cited her previous roles to question the depth of her long term leadership experience.
Others pushed back just as forcefully. Several users defended Microsoft’s decision, arguing that a chief executive does not need to design or play video games to run a global gaming business. Some said the backlash against Sharma reflected racism toward Indians in the tech industry rather than a serious debate about qualifications.
The leadership change comes at a complicated moment for Xbox. After years of intense competition with Sony and Nintendo, former gaming chief Phil Spencer acknowledged in 2024 that the 2013 Xbox One “lost the worst generation to lose.” Microsoft has since spent aggressively to broaden its footprint, including its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, as it looks beyond consoles to PC and mobile gaming. The division has also cut more than 2,500 jobs since 2024 and shuttered multiple studios.
In an email to staff, Sharma sought to reassure employees and longtime players. “We will recommit to our core Xbox fans and players, those who have invested with us for the past 25 years, and to the developers who build the expansive universes and experiences that are embraced by players across the world,” she wrote.
She added: “We will celebrate our roots with a renewed commitment to Xbox starting with console, which has shaped who we are.”