‘No Tolerance for Unhealthy AI’: New Xbox Boss Responds to Issues Round Her Microsoft Background

Microsoft’s new gaming CEO Asha Sharma has responded to issues round her background in AI and lack of earlier roles in gaming, as a part of her first main interview since yesterday’s announcement that she’s going to change veteran Xbox boss Phil Spencer.

Last evening, IGN solely broke the information of a shocking reshuffle on the high of Microsoft’s gaming division. Veteran chief and avid gamer Phil Spencer was retiring, his protégé Sarah Bond was following him out the door, and Sharma was now in cost. Meanwhile, Xbox Studios chief Matt Booty had secured a promotion, and can now function Sharma’s right-hand man.

Now, Sharma has spoken with Variety and addressed the 2 fast issues raised by many Xbox followers final evening because the information broke — that Microsoft boss Satya Nadella had chosen the corporate’s CoreAI head of product growth to exchange Phil Spencer, who beforehand had no expertise working something to do with video video games.

In Sharma’s first message to Microsoft employees, Sharma laid out her three important commitments: “great games”, “the return of Xbox” and “future of play.”

Talking to Variety, Sharma mentioned she believed nice video games have been these with “deep emotional resonance”, “a distinct point of view” and experiences with tales that make gamers “feel something.” Sharma then gave the beloved narrative thriller Firewatch for example of this.

On her observe document, Sharma admitted she had “a lot to learn” as an out of doors to the gaming neighborhood, however was a “platform builder” who meant to “earn the right to be trusted by players and developers.”

Sharma started her profession at Microsoft in advertising, although has frolicked at Meta, scaling Facebook Messenger to billions of customers, after which retail supply firm Instacart, the place she helped information the enterprise to profitability.

While she has spent two years engaged on Microsoft’s AI push, her preliminary message to Xbox employees included a pledge to “not chase short-term efficiency or flood our ecosystem with soulless AI slop.” To Variety, she claimed comparable, saying her stance was that she had “no tolerance for bad AI.”

“AI has long been part of gaming and will continue to be,” Sharma mentioned, mentioning the necessity for gaming “growth engines,” however that “great stories are created by humans.”

Concluding, Sharma teased extra information from Xbox would floor subsequent month throughout the annual GDC convention, earlier than larger bulletins to observe at a brand new Xbox Games Showcase later this spring.

IGN has far more on this story, together with the numerous farewells from veteran builders to Phil Spencer, and Spencer’s private phrases to the Xbox neighborhood following his departure.

Image credit score: Microsoft

Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can attain Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or discover him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social