I don’t normally write about gaming industry news, but I wanted to try something new. Plus, this is a big deal and something we will continue to talk about and watch for the rest of this year. I also want to say I am not an “Xbox Gamer” anymore, not because I’m anti-Xbox, but because I don’t own a current Xbox console. My last Xbox was an Xbox 360, which I turned on not too long ago.

Let’s take a quick *SideQuest break:

*SideQuest I
Last week, during Kinda Funny Games Daily (a daily gaming news podcast), SnowBike Mike (Mike Howard) made an interesting claim. He’s known as an “Xbox Guy,” but that’s simply because he happened to choose Xbox during the PlayStation 4/Xbox One console generation. He went on to say that for many gamers that generation locked us into either PlayStation or Xbox, because the next generation allowed us to carry over our gaming library. If you spent all this time and money building up your digital library, why would you want to make the switch and lose your progress? It’s the same reason why many PC gamers stick with Steam, even though Epic Games Store is giving away free games every week — I have both on my old ass PC. How long until our digital library no longer transfers over to our next-gen console?

Back to the news. Last week, we learned that Phil Spencer (current CEO of Microsoft Gaming) was retiring from his position. We also learned that Sarah Bond will also leave Xbox. Matt Booty will remain as the new Executive Vice President/Chief Content Officer, but the big news was that Asha Sharma would be the new boss at Xbox.

Sorry, but I have a second quick **SideQuest:

**SideQuest II
Let’s take a moment to recognize some of the really cool names in the gaming industry — Matt Booty, Kiki Wolfkill, Doug Bowser, Donald Mustard (who I always thought of as Colonel Mustard), Sarah Bond, Jade Raymond, Lena Raine, Ed Boon, Cliff Bleszinski. There are also plenty of bad ass Japanese and Europeans — Hideo Kojima, Satoru Iwata, Shigeru Miyamoto, Feargus Urquhart, Alexy Pajitnov. These last three just seem like all-around cool hangs — Todd Howard, Tim Schafer, and of course, Vince Zampella (RIP)

The News

Back to the news, once again. The internet was freaking out about new Microsoft Gaming CEO, Asha Sharma all week long. She’s not a gamer like her predecessor, Phil Spencer. She’s also coming from heading CoreAI, and many of us hate how certain gamer developers are using AI in games — or how the higher ups are trying to push “AI slop” on their development teams. 

The problem isn’t that a non-gamer is going to run a gaming company, it’s that for so many years Phil (a certified lover of games) has been at the top. He wasn’t just the lead, but also the face of Xbox. He would be the one showcasing new games and studios during Xbox Showcases. Games which he was genuinely excited about.

Sarah Bond would have been a great successor, as the new face of Xbox. She would also show up during presentations, and knew her stuff. She’s been an on-screen personality for the company. It’s sad that she isn’t staying, but there’s probably a good reason. Xbox is currently in a weird place.

Matt Booty will most likely become the new face of Xbox gaming. He’ll be the one presenting and showcasing what’s to come. I’m wondering what the relationship between Matt Booty and Asha Sharma is going to be like? Is he going to be fighting to keep studios open and games releasing while she’s trying to slash costs?

The Reggie Effect

There’s still a chance that this could all be a good decision for Xbox and Microsoft Gaming. Reggie Fils-Aime was a wonderful president and face for Nintendo fans for years. He was the real deal. When he moved on, we were all like, “Who’s this Doug BOWSER? You mean Mario’s mortal enemy is taking over?”

Doug ended up doing great things for Nintendo and helping them get back to the top, while doing things their own way. Still, we never saw his face. Things were different, but things were and have been really good for Nintendo with the two Nintendo Switch consoles.

I don’t see Asha Sharma as the CEO who is going to speak directly to gamers, but maybe her perspective as an outsider will help take Xbox to a new place. 

Shawn Layden was an inviting face for PlayStation. He came out and spoke directly to gamers, but he never felt as game-savvy as Phil and Reggie. Still, he got the job done. PlayStation has also had Mark Cerny lead many technical presentations, which were never for me, but I trust that he knows what he’s doing.

Best Wishes

There’s no real perfect formula for a big gaming company CEO, CCO, or leader. Gaming companies and studios can be at the top of the industry one second and lose everything the next. I definitely wish Xbox the best and look forward to the new business model. Although I don’t own a current Xbox console, I still like seeing them and their studios succeed.

I’ve had a great time with plenty of Xbox Game Studios games on other platforms in the past few years — Ori and the Blind Forest (on Nintendo Switch), Indiana Jones and the Great Circle (on PlayStation 5), and now Fallout 4 (on Nintendo Switch 2). 

I mainly hope to see less of their studios get shuttered. If Asha and Matt can work on keeping studios open and releasing successful games, then I think Xbox will be in a good place.