Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has announced major leadership changes as it ends development of Gaming Copilot for consoles and begins phasing out the feature on mobile.
In a post shared to social media, Sharma said: “Xbox needs to move faster, deepen our connection with the community, and address friction for both players and developers.”
To address these challenges, the company has promoted key leaders and brought in new talent to drive progress.
“As part of this shift, you’ll see us begin to retire features that don’t align with where we’re headed. We will begin winding down Copilot on mobile and will stop development of Copilot on console.”
Xbox only recently announced in March that Gaming Copilot would be available for current-gen consoles this year. It launched in beta on PC, mobile, and the ROG Ally in 2025.
In a memo seen by IGN, Sharma said Xbox needs to “evolve how we work and how we are organised” to “build a platform that is affordable, personal, and open by staying close to the work and the people we serve.”
“Right now, it is too hard to ship impact quickly. We spend too much time inward instead of with the community, and we lack the depth we need in some of the fundamentals.”
Sharma stated that Xbox is adding leaders with consumer and technical expertise not currently present in the organization, including executives from CoreAI, a Microsoft division where she previously served as president.
IGN noted that Xbox’s stance on AI “remains unchanged” despite these additions. Sharma previously pledged that there would be “no bad AI at Xbox”, and later reiterated that the firm faced “no pressure from Microsoft” to use AI.
The new appointments are as follows:
- Jared Palmer (former CoreAI VP of product) – VP of Xbox engineering
- Tim Allen (former CoreAI president of design) – CVP of Xbox Design
- Jonathan McKay (former CoreAI head of growth) – Xbox head of Evan Chakigrowth
- (former CoreAI general manager of AI innovation) – Xbox general manager of transformation
- David Schloss (former Instacart senior director of product and growth) – Head of Xbox subscriptions and cloud
Additionally, four Xbox executives have been assigned new roles (courtesy of Kotaku):
- Jason Ronald, VP of Xbox gaming devices and ecosystems, will now be “accountable for Project Helix and the Xbox platform”
- Jason Beaumont, VP of Xbox experiences, will lead product and services, in addition to serving as the interim head of engineering
- Fatima Kardar, corporate VP of gaming AI, will remain in her role, as well as head of a “newly formed personalisation organisation” focusing on player issues
- Jennifer Creegan, VP of strategy, business model, and insights, will now lead Xbox’s media business
Kevin Gammill will depart from his role as Xbox’s CVP of gaming ecosystem organisation. Roanne Sones, CVP for Xbox devices and ecosystems, will take a leave of absence and later return as an advisor.
These changes follow Microsoft Gaming’s announcement that it would revert to Xbox branding as part of a new mission statement.
Sharma and CCO Matt Booty said, “the model that got us here won’t be the one that takes us forward.”
They outlined that Xbox will now focus on increasing daily active players, prioritising improvements in hardware, content, experiences, and services.
The company also plans to expand into China and emerging markets and strengthen Game Pass with a sustainable financial model.
Xbox reported a 33% decrease in hardware revenue in Q3, along with a 5% decline in content and services revenue.
Despite lower content and hardware revenue, Xbox achieved record levels of monthly active users and streaming hours.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said Microsoft was “doing the foundational work required to win back fans and strengthen engagement” across its consumer business, including Xbox.
