Asha Sharma has been appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft Gaming. In her new role, she will report directly to Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO of Microsoft.
Sharma joins the position with extensive leadership experience, having previously served as Chief Operating Officer at Instacart and as Vice President at Meta.
As part of the leadership transition, Matt Booty will step into the role of Executive Vice President and Chief Content Officer, reporting to Sharma. Under Booty’s leadership, Microsoft Gaming has expanded to nearly 40 studios across Xbox, Bethesda, Activision Blizzard, and King. These studios are behind globally recognized franchises such as Halo, The Elder Scrolls, Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Diablo, Candy Crush Saga, and Fallout.
Commenting on the announcement, Satya Nadella said “Together, Asha and Matt have the right combination of consumer product leadership and gaming depth to push our platform innovation and content pipeline forward. Last year, Phil Spencer made the decision to retire from the company, and since then we’ve been talking about succession planning. I want to thank Phil for his extraordinary leadership and partnership. Over 38 years at Microsoft, including 12 years leading Gaming, Phil helped transform what we do and how we do it. He expanded our reach across PC, mobile, and cloud; nearly tripled the size of the business; helped shape our strategy through the acquisitions of Activision Blizzard, ZeniMax, and Minecraft; and strengthened our culture across our studios and platforms. I’ve long admired Phil’s unwavering commitment to players, creators, and his team, and I am personally grateful for his leadership and counsel. He will continue working closely with Asha to ensure a smooth transition.”
On her appointment, Asha Sharma said: “Humility because this team has built something extraordinary over decades. Urgency because gaming is in a period of rapid change, and we need to move with clarity and conviction…Thank you to Phil for his leadership, and to every studio, platform, and operations team that built this foundation. We are stewards of some of the most loved stories and characters in entertainment and bring players and creators together around the fun and community of gaming in entirely new ways…My first job is simple: understand what makes this work and protect it.”
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