It’s been a chaotic era for Xbox. Microsoft’s gaming arm has spent billions on acquisitions, laid off hundreds of developers, and struggled to turn its bets into hits. Now, Phil Spencer is out, and Sarah Bond isn’t taking over. Instead, Microsoft CoreAI president Asha Sharma is stepping in. She’s inheriting one of the most scrutinized jobs in gaming at a time when the industry remains very skeptical of generative AI. However, not everyone sees this as the beginning of the end for the division.
Thomas Mahler, the co-founder of Moon Studios and director of the critically acclaimed Ori series, has shared his thoughts on this major shake-up on X. According to him, Sharma’s position can be compared to Apple’s late superstar Steve Jobs.
Mahler likened Sharma’s position to Jobs’ return to Apple in 1997, when the company looked beyond saving. Previously, Jobs had been forced out of Apple and went on to found his own tech company, NeXT, before eventually returning. Against the odds, he turned Apple into one of the most valuable companies in the world, fueled largely by the success of the iPhone. According to Mahler, Xbox could be at a similar crossroads.
From his point of view, Xbox has spent years following a strategy that just ‘clearly hasn’t worked.’ Around 80 billion dollars were spent acquiring studios, and so far, those investments have barely justified such a staggering price tag. Gaming’s Netflix Game Pass was supposed to reach 100 million subscribers within the first few years. Instead, it’s stagnated around 30 million to this day, and adding Call of Duty to its lineup barely helped.
Steve returned to Apple in 97 after the company had squandered much of its potential and was basically in the shitter. When he took over again, it seemed pretty much hopeless. BUT, against all odds, he managed to turn Apple into the most valuable company ever.
I think Asha is in a similarly difficult position […] It looks like you’ve just been named the captain of a sinking ship. But even in that situation, there is a silver lining – and history shows what the strategy has to be[.]
Mahler argues that the path forward is simple — but brutal. Just as Steve Jobs benefited from John Carmack’s feedback, which shaped the iPhone’s success, Xbox’s future depends on Asha Sharma’s openness. She needs to surround herself with people who truly prioritize the gamer audience over short-term profits.
Similar to what Microsoft’s old DirectX team — Kevin Bachus, Seamus Blackley, Ted Hase, and Otto Berkes — did by bringing the original Xbox to life.
Steve Jobs already pulled off an even more difficult turnaround. So it clearly can be done. Here’s what I think has to happen:
1) She needs to listen to gamers.
2) She needs to be willing to make radical moves, even if they make her unpopular in the short term.
3) There are no shortcuts.
[…] Xbox now has a chance to flip the table. And they’ll have to: If she wants to do things the right way, it’s gonna be a pretty shitty job for quite some time.
Whether Asha Sharma can replicate Steve Jobs’ level Hail Mary save is anyone’s guess. But now, all eyes are on whether this becomes another costly cautionary tale for Microsoft. Or the start of Xbox’s most surprising turnaround yet.
