New Xbox boss says "I don't pretend to be the best gamer," but that's not her goal, anyway: "My focus is to make Xbox the best place to play, return to our roots, ship great things, and become stronger"

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Asha Sharma says her Xbox gamertag was created "recently to learn and understand this world"

Halo Infinite
(Image credit: Xbox Game Studios)

Xbox's new CEO has responded to suggestions that she could be faking her Twitter posts to better fit in with the gamer crowd, which she knows "would be a terrible idea and wouldn't work," but she admits that, yes, her gamertag was only created "recently to learn and understand this world."

Last week, it was announced that Phil Spencer is retiring from his role as the CEO of Microsoft Gaming, with Xbox president Sarah Bond resigning, too. It's a huge leadership shakeup, and even more questions were raised considering that Spencer's replacement was named as Asha Sharma, who joined Microsoft in 2024 as the president of the company's CoreAI product, and had no obvious background in games.

If you were at all perplexed by the range of games she's played, which her gamertag would suggest goes from Hollow Knight to Vampire Survivors, Borderlands 2 and Minecraft, she explains: "I've played with my family, and it's a shared home account across devices (which you can see in the range of games /achievements). Fixed that this weekend and everyone is only playing on their own GTs."

Even so, she continues, "I get where this is coming from. I don't pretend to be the best gamer and even though I'm playing, that's still not my goal." Instead, Sharma says: "My focus is to make Xbox the best place to play, return to our roots, ship great things, and become stronger for the future." And, if there was any doubt, "yes, I'm writing my own posts."

Comparisons to her predecessor, Spencer, are only natural – after all, he was well known for being a big gaming fan. However, the proof will be in the pudding, and only time will tell if Sharma will be able to lead Xbox toward a stronger future. Reassuringly, she has already said that "we will not chase short-term efficiency or flood our ecosystem with soulless AI slop," noting: "Games are and always will be art, crafted by humans, and created with the most innovative technology provided by us."

Xbox will be "sunsetted" under new CEO, original co-founder expects: "Her job is going to be as a palliative care doctor who slides Xbox gently into the night."

Catherine Lewis
Catherine Lewis
Deputy News Editor

I'm GamesRadar+'s Deputy News Editor, working alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield's student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming's news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you're sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite.

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