“Our job is to turn around the business": New Xbox chief strategy officer says joining was "irresistible," and his goal is "reviving storied franchises"

Ever since Phil Spencer retired and she was brought on as the new Xbox CEO, Asha Sharma has made several major changes within Microsoft's gaming brand — including several high-level leadership shuffles as she solidifies the team that will herald "the return of Xbox" and help her achieve her vision for the future of the gaming division.

A second wave of leadership hires and promotions came on Wednesday, with Sharma bringing three new executives into the fold at Xbox. These include the "widely respected" and well-known game industry analyst Matthew Ball as Xbox's new chief strategy officer, Microsoft's chief vice president of Azure OpenAI and AI infrastructure Scott Van Vliet as chief technology officer, and Chris Schnakenberg as corporate vice president of partnerships and business development.

Ball's appointment stood out in particular; Sharma said he's actually been advising her since day 10 of her three month tenure, and has now been made a part of the Xbox team officially. He's best known in gaming for his thorough, investigative, and data-driven annual "The State of Video Gaming" reports, and has helped lead companies like Amazon Studios, Otter Media, and Accenture in the past.

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Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg following his hiring, Ball explained that he's a passionate fan of Xbox, with "thousands of memories in specific basements playing Halo, playing Gears of War." Thus, "when [Sharma] asked if I wanted to be a part of a turnaround, it was irresistible.”

He acknowledged that "The last few years have had a lot of different and largely disappointing quarters," for Xbox, referencing recent underwhelming financial reports. "Our job is to turn around the business, to grow its reach in players and player hours," he added.

In Bloomberg's words, Ball said that the role he plays in that process will be "reviving storied franchises and strengthening Xbox’s console business," which has struggled greatly in recent years due to the ongoing memory crisis, a slow cadence of updates Asha Sharma has pledged to fix, and a notable lack of compelling reasons to buy an Xbox console amidst Microsoft's push to release its games on every available platform.

Even so, he believes console gaming as a business is "important, durable and still growing," and also believes that "revenue will follow and profit should as well" if Microsoft takes steps to make Xbox a more attractive alternative to competing systems like PlayStation and the Nintendo Switch 2.

One way many want Microsoft to achieve this is through the return of Xbox-exclusive games, which Asha Sharma is evaluating right now; Ball didn't offer further comment, though pointed out the "binary of exclusivity" isn't the only route to take.

Instead, he explained that "I’m very focused on this question of how games can — where appropriate; it’s not suitable for all titles — find better and bigger ways to explore, create, co-create and build together." Sharma wants to "elevate creator-centric platforms like Minecraft, The Elder Scrolls, and Sea of Thieves," that Microsoft owns, and Ball will help Team Xbox do so.

Focusing on games with strong social elements that come from multiplayer, modding and content creation, or both would in theory help Xbox compete with games and platforms like Roblox and TikTok, which is where Ball's previous reports indicate the biggest threat lies. "Video gaming has been losing the attention war for a half decade," he wrote in February.

Ultimately, I'm interested in seeing how Ball will help shape the future of Xbox, and its social-focused first-party games in particular. Hopefully brighter times are ahead.

Do you think Matthew Ball will be a good fit at Xbox? I'm curious to hear from you, so share your thoughts below.

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