Microsoft announced a major gaming shakeup on Friday. Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer is departing the company, along with Xbox President Sarah Bond. Spencer will be replaced by former Instacart and Meta executive Asha Sharma.
With Sharma’s most recent role as the president of Microsoft’s CoreAI product, these moves suggest the company might be doubling down on bringing artificial intelligence into video games. Microsoft had already been experimenting with ways to combine AI and gaming, for example by developing an AI gaming companion and releasing an AI-generated level from “Quake II.”
In an internal memo, Sharma wrote that Microsoft “will invent new business models and new ways to play” and stated that “monetization and AI” will both “evolve and influence this future.” At the same time, she said the company “will not chase short-term efficiency or flood our ecosystem with soulless AI slop.”
She added, “Games are and always will be art, crafted by humans, and created with the most innovative technology provided by us.”
That is just one of three commitments Sharma made in her memo. The others involve building “great games beloved by players” and a continued prioritization of Xbox.