Asha Sharma Named EVP and CEO of Microsoft Gaming as Phil Spencer Retires; Matt Booty Elevated to Chief Content Officer

Feb 20, 2026 — Leadership at Microsoft Gaming is shifting: asha sharma will become Executive Vice President and CEO, Microsoft Gaming, reporting to Satya Nadella. The move follows a period of succession planning tied to a recent retirement and comes as the company highlights the size and reach of its gaming ecosystem.

Asha Sharma named EVP and CEO

Asha Sharma will take on the role of Executive Vice President and CEO, Microsoft Gaming, reporting directly to Satya Nadella. Over the last two years at Microsoft, and previously as Chief Operating Officer at Instacart and a Vice President at Meta, she helped build and scale services that reach billions of people and support consumer and developer ecosystems. She brings experience in building and growing platforms, aligning business models to long-term value, and operating at global scale—capabilities described as critical for leading the gaming business into its next era of growth. The announcement frames asha sharma's appointment as central to advancing platform innovation and the company’s content pipeline.

Matt Booty promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief Content Officer

Matt Booty will become Executive Vice President and Chief Content Officer, reporting to Asha. His career is characterized as a lifelong commitment to games and to the people who make them. Under his leadership, Microsoft Gaming expanded to nearly 40 studios across Xbox, Bethesda, Activision Blizzard, and King, platforms that house major franchises and drive the company’s content slate.

Scale of Microsoft Gaming: studios, franchises and users

The company emphasized the scale and reach of its gaming operations: Xbox is celebrating its 25th year, the gaming portfolio reaches over 500 million monthly active users, and the business is described as a top publisher across all platforms. The organization highlights ongoing innovation across gaming hardware, content, and community in service of creators and players.

• Studios span nearly 40 internal teams across Xbox, Bethesda, Activision Blizzard, and King.
• Named franchises include: Halo; The Elder Scrolls; Call of Duty; World of Warcraft; Diablo; Candy Crush; and Fallout.

Phil Spencer’s retirement and the transition

Phil Spencer made the decision to retire last year. His tenure at the company spans 38 years, including 12 years leading the gaming division. Descriptions of his impact note that he expanded the business’s reach across PC, mobile, and cloud; nearly tripled the size of the business; helped shape strategy through the acquisitions of Activision Blizzard, ZeniMax, and Minecraft; and strengthened culture across studios and platforms. The leadership message states that he will continue working closely with Asha to ensure a smooth transition and expresses thanks for his leadership and partnership.

Roots, history and the path forward

The communication reiterates a long view of gaming inside the company: gaming has been part of the organization from the start, with Flight Simulator shipping before Windows and a technological throughline from DirectX in the 1990s to what is described as today’s accelerated-compute era. The announcement frames the combination of Asha Sharma’s consumer product leadership and Matt Booty’s content depth as the right mix to push platform innovation and content forward. Leadership notes the presence of extraordinary creative talent across the studios and a global platform "second to none, " and expresses excitement about capturing the opportunities ahead while remaining grounded in what players and creators value.

Leadership note and personal reflection

The executive communication asks readers to join in congratulating Asha and Matt on their new roles and in thanking Phil for his contributions. Satya Nadella shared a personal reflection, recalling that when he walked through the company’s doors as an intern in June of 1988 he could never have imagined the products, players, customers, and teams he would be part of; he described it as an epic ride and the privilege of a lifetime. The message also contains the fragment "Last fall, I shared with Satya that I was thinking"—unclear in the provided context.