Asha Sharma named EVP and CEO of Microsoft Gaming in leadership shakeup
Microsoft announced that asha sharma will become Executive Vice President and CEO, Microsoft Gaming, a handoff that follows Phil Spencer's decision to retire and comes as Xbox marks its 25th year and reaches over 500 million monthly active users.
Asha Sharma to lead Microsoft Gaming
Asha Sharma will report to Satya Nadella and take charge of a gaming organization that spans nearly 40 studios across Xbox, Bethesda, Activision Blizzard, and King, housing franchises such as Halo, The Elder Scrolls, Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Diablo, Candy Crush, and Fallout. she brings experience from two years at Microsoft and prior roles as Chief Operating Officer at Instacart and a vice president at Meta, and that she will focus on platform and content growth across hardware, software, and services.
Matt Booty promoted to Chief Content Officer
Matt Booty will become Executive Vice President and Chief Content Officer and will report to Asha. Under Booty’s leadership, Microsoft Gaming has grown to encompass the studio slate listed above; Microsoft said Booty has a long record of working with the teams that build those franchises and will be responsible for pushing the content pipeline forward.
Top leadership departures reshape Xbox
Phil Spencer announced his decision to retire after more than three decades at Microsoft, having joined the company as an intern in June of 1988 and led the gaming business for 12 years. Microsoft credited Spencer with nearly tripling the size of the business and steering major acquisitions including Activision Blizzard, ZeniMax, and Minecraft. Spencer will continue working closely with Asha to ensure a smooth transition. Separately, Xbox president Sarah Bond has resigned, creating an additional vacancy in the division’s senior ranks.
In a message shared with employees, company leadership framed the move as the next step in a succession plan that has been under discussion since last fall. Microsoft emphasized the scale of the gaming audience — more than 500 million monthly active users — and the need to align platform innovation with the studios and franchises that define the business.
asha sharma has written that her immediate priorities include protecting what already works in gaming and strengthening game development and platform investment. She named supporting great games, empowering studios, and recommitting to core Xbox fans as central commitments, and she noted Matt Booty’s promotion as part of that approach.
The company asked employees to join leadership in congratulating the newly named executives and in thanking Phil Spencer for his service. Microsoft said it will continue the transition process with Spencer working closely with the incoming CEO to hand off responsibilities and stabilize the organization as it pursues the next phase of growth.
Microsoft’s corporate blog announced the changes on Feb. 20, 2026, describing the move as part of a larger plan to push platform innovation and the content pipeline. The company identified no public date for a final handover, only that Spencer will remain involved to support the transition.
Next steps confirmed by the company include the leadership handoff to Asha Sharma and the start of Booty’s tenure as Chief Content Officer; Microsoft said those changes are effective as it begins implementing the succession plan and continuing work across its studios and platforms.
