Asha Sharma has been appointed Executive Vice President and CEO of Microsoft Gaming, the company announced on February 20, 2026. Reporting directly to CEO Satya Nadella, Sharma will lead Xbox, Xbox Game Studios, Activision Blizzard, Bethesda, King and Microsoft’s wider gaming efforts. The move follows Phil Spencer’s decision to step back from day-to-day leadership; Spencer will remain in an advisory capacity through the summer to support the transition.
Sharma arrives with experience scaling consumer platforms and operations, including senior roles at Instacart and Meta. Microsoft highlighted her track record building large ecosystems and reaching broad audiences as a key reason for the hire, saying those skills will help grow the company’s platform, content and community across console, PC and mobile. The gaming organization she inherits includes nearly 40 internal studios and a portfolio of well-known franchises that reach hundreds of millions of players.
As part of the leadership reshuffle, Matt Booty has been promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief Content Officer and will report to Sharma. Booty will continue to oversee studio operations and creative strategy, focusing on content development, studio investment and the company’s long-term creative roadmap. Microsoft framed the changes as a planned succession designed to maintain momentum across hardware, cloud services and content while preparing for the next phase of growth in gaming.
In her first public statement as incoming CEO, Sharma set out three priorities: invest in great games, renew focus on Xbox and its core fans, and shape the future of play by supporting creative teams and building platforms and tools that let developers reach players across devices. She stressed the importance of protecting creative craft and cautioned against short-term monetization approaches that could erode player trust.
Microsoft thanked Phil Spencer for his decades of service and for guiding the business through major expansions and acquisitions that reshaped its gaming strategy. The company said the leadership change positions Microsoft to accelerate studio investment, expand content offerings and deepen engagement with players worldwide as gaming continues to evolve across devices and cloud services.
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