Microsoft has appointed Asha Sharma as Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft Gaming, effective immediately, the company announced on February 19. Sharma will report directly to Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella, succeeding Phil Spencer, who is retiring after 38 years with Microsoft, including 12 years leading its gaming division. Spencer will remain in an advisory capacity through the summer to ensure a smooth leadership transition.
In a company-wide message, Nadella highlighted gaming as a cornerstone of Microsoft’s strategy, praising Sharma for her “extensive experience in building and scaling platforms, aligning business models for long-term growth, and managing global operations,” all critical for the next phase of Microsoft Gaming. Sharma joined Microsoft two years ago, with previous leadership roles as COO at Instacart and Vice President at Meta, where she oversaw services reaching billions of users.
In her first communication as CEO, Sharma expressed humility and urgency, outlining three main priorities: delivering compelling games, recommitting to core Xbox players and developers, and creating innovative models for the future of play. She emphasized Microsoft’s continued expansion across console, PC, mobile, and cloud platforms, while ensuring player and creator experiences remain central, stating that games are “art crafted by humans.”
Nadella noted that Microsoft Gaming currently engages over 500 million monthly active users and expressed confidence that Sharma, alongside key executives, will guide the organization through its next chapter while remaining focused on the needs of gamers and developers.
