Xbox CEO Asha Sharma kills Copilot for Gaming — overhauls leadership with CoreAI veterans

Source: Tom’s Hardware

Image credit: Microsoft

Copilot for Gaming wind‑down

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma announced on X that the company is winding down the Copilot for Gaming feature on mobile and canceling its planned console launch. Sharma described the pullback as part of a push to “retire features that don’t align with where we’re headed.”

The memo noted that Xbox needs to move faster, deepen its connection with the community, and address friction for both players and developers.

Leadership overhaul

Sharma introduced four senior executives from her former CoreAI engineering group at Microsoft:

• Jared Palmer – former VP of product at CoreAI and senior VP at GitHub; now VP of Engineering and Technical Advisor to Sharma.
• Tim Allen – previously CoreAI’s VP of Design; now Head of Xbox Design.
• Jonathan McKay – former growth roles at OpenAI and Meta before leading CoreAI growth; now Head of Growth at Xbox.
• Evan Chaki – CoreAI General Manager; now leads a new team focused on simplifying development workflows.

A fifth hire, David Schloss (formerly Instacart), will oversee Xbox’s subscription and cloud business.

Two senior Xbox executives are departing:

• Kevin Gammill, Corporate VP of Gaming Ecosystem Organization, is leaving the company.
• Roanne Sones, Corporate VP of Xbox Devices and Ecosystem, will take a leave of absence after the summer and transition to an advisory role.

Context and background

Microsoft first unveiled Copilot for Gaming at GDC in March 2025, positioning the AI assistant as a real‑time sidekick that offers gameplay tips, coaching, and session recaps. A beta rolled out to the Xbox mobile app, later expanded to the PC Game Bar in September and the ROG Xbox Ally handheld. In October, a privacy backlash emerged after a user discovered that the feature was sending screen‑activity data to Microsoft’s servers by default.

Sharma has not addressed the status of Copilot on the PC Game Bar or the ROG Xbox Ally handheld, leaving the future of those versions unclear. In the memo, she wrote that Xbox needs to “evolve how we work” and acknowledged the division spends “too much time inward instead of with the community.”

Recent strategic moves

Since taking over as Xbox CEO in February 2026 (following Phil Spencer’s retirement), Sharma has:

• Axed the “This is an Xbox” marketing campaign.
• Cut Game Pass prices.
• Rebranded Microsoft Gaming back to simply Xbox.
• Outlined a “back‑to‑basics” strategy focused on console and community.

Financial performance

Xbox continues to struggle financially:

• Gaming revenue fell to $5.3 billion in the most recent quarter, down from $5.7 billion a year earlier.
• Hardware revenue dropped 33 %.

These figures highlight the pressure on the division as it seeks to revitalize its core offerings.