The leadership change at Microsoft Gaming has spiralled into a social media firestorm, with the appointment of Asha Sharma as CEO triggering toxic reactions that questioned her background, gender and Indian origin.
The backlash was swift and sharp. Within hours of the announcement, posts flooded X (formally twitter) and other platforms, with some users framing the move as the beginning of an “era of agenda” in large corporations and predicting dire consequences for the gaming industry.
“Phil Spencer is retiring as the CEO of Microsoft Gaming. Asha Sharma was in charge of Ai in Windows Microsoft ‘copilot’ which everyone hates. So they put her in charge of Microsoft Gaming. White men replaced by women from India. Microsoft is cooked,” wrote a user.
Another post read, “The new head of Xbox, Asha Sharma is an ai executive with no background in gaming whatsoever. xbox is cooked lmao. 2001-2026.”
A third wrote, “Asha Sharma is proof that Indians only hire other Indians and will continue to bring in more Indians so they can hire only kore Indians. Microsoft is soft locked by Indian H1B interests.”
“It’s already happening. Indians are taking over American companies. Sundar is Google ceo, Satya is ceo of Microsoft, Twitter already had one Indian ceo and now Asha Sharma the ceo of Xbox,” wrote a fourth.
Against this backdrop, Microsoft formally confirmed that Indian-origin Asha Sharma will take over from Phil Spencer, who is retiring after nearly four decades with Microsoft Gaming.
“I am long on gaming and its role at the center of our consumer ambition, and as we look ahead, I’m excited to share that Asha Sharma will become Executive Vice President and CEO of Microsoft Gaming, reporting to me,” said CEO Satya Nadella while announcing the decision.
Sharma previously led the development of Microsoft Copilot and came to Xbox with a reputation as an AI specialist — a background that some critics seized upon to question her gaming credentials.
In her first message after the announcement, Sharma sought to reassure the community. “We will recommit to our core Xbox fans and players, those who have invested with us for the past 25 years. Gaming now lives across devices, not within the limits of any single piece of hardware,” she said.
The transition places Sharma at the helm of one of Microsoft’s most visible consumer businesses at a time when gaming is expanding beyond consoles into cloud services, subscriptions and AI-driven ecosystems. While the online backlash continues to simmer, the company has signalled that its broader gaming ambitions remain firmly on track.
