New Xbox CEO Asha Sharma Halts Direct AI Integration, Game Pass Grows After 8 Months
Sharma's public admission that Xbox is unhealthy and her decision to reverse a Nadella-backed AI policy signal a break from the previous leadership's approach, prioritizing player experience over corporate AI directives.
Reporting from 3 sources: GAME Watch (Impress), GameBusiness.jp, Game Spark.
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma, who took the position in February 2026, gave a Bloomberg interview marking her first 100 days. She said she halted plans to integrate Microsoft's AI Copilot directly into Xbox because players were not excited about that experience. Sharma stated she is not against AI but wants it used behind the scenes, such as for prototyping or upscaling graphics. She also revealed that component costs for next-generation consoles have surged 2.75 times due to global AI demand, rising 50% in just her first 100 days, and said Xbox needs to fundamentally change its innovation and business model. Sharma acknowledged that Game Pass had been declining for eight months but has returned to growth after recent price adjustments. She described Xbox as not in a healthy state, citing declining sales and rising costs, and said the next 100 days will focus on resetting the business. As a symbolic move, she appointed a well-known game analyst who had been a harsh critic of Xbox as an advisor. Sharma appeared at the Xbox Industry Mixer pre-show event on June 6, ahead of the Xbox Games Showcase scheduled for June 8.
Sharma, who came to Xbox from Instacart, Meta, and Microsoft's AI division, appeared at the Xbox Industry Mixer pre-show event on June 6 at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles. She posed for photos with the original Xbox prototype "Big X," created by Bill Gates, and with the Master Chief from "Halo." She exchanged brief greetings with attendees and left after about an hour. Her predecessor Phil Spencer, a founding member of the original Xbox team who oversaw acquisitions including Mojang and launched Game Pass, left suddenly in February.
Sharma said the $70 billion Activision Blizzard acquisition was decided "before the advent of ChatGPT" and "in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic," and that the market has changed significantly since then. She still values the power of IPs like Call of Duty and Candy Crush. She described new-generation gamers as wanting to play anywhere in short sessions, different from traditional users, and suggested the next Xbox will explore new delivery forms beyond existing hardware.
The Xbox Games Showcase is scheduled for June 8 at 2:00 AM JST, with a concurrent community event called Xbox FanFest. This year's Direct focuses on "Gears of War." A photo booth with the chainsaw-equipped Lancer rifle from "Gears of War: E-Day" was set up at the Mixer. Wristbands at the event flashed in Xbox colors as a 25th anniversary special edition. The showcase is the first in-person event in two years.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 3 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.
Sources
- GAME Watch (Impress) XBOX前夜祭に、新XBOX CEOのAsha Sharma氏が登場【XGS】
- GameBusiness.jp XBOX新CEOが就任から100日まで振り返る。「AI直接導入の中止」にGame Passが8か月ぶり成長―「健全ではない」現状からの反撃など語る
- Game Spark XBOX新CEOが就任から100日まで振り返る。「AI直接導入の中止」にGame Passが8か月ぶり成長―「健全ではない」現状からの反撃など語る