Xbox Founder Seamus Blackley: New CEO Asha Sharma Will "Sunset" Xbox Like Palliative Care

Xbox founder and creator Seamus Blackley, had some explosive opinions of the new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma. In a recent interview with GamesBeat, Blackley suggested that, in coming months, Sharma will begin sunsetting the Xbox division to allow Microsoft to refocus on its new core AI business.

Xbox, like a lot of businesses that aren’t the core AI business, is being sunsetted. They don’t say that, but that’s what’s happening. I expect that the new CEO, Asha Sharma, her job is going to be as a palliative care doctor who slides Xbox gently into the night.

It would have been shocking if they had somebody in there in a meaningful role who was passionate about games, passionate about the creator-driven business of games, because it would be in direct conflict with everything else Microsoft is doing.

Microsoft is a company that is now about enabling its customers by enabling AI to drive things. That’s at odds with the auteur model of any art, but specifically of games.

Sharma’s start as Xbox CEO has not been well received by the gaming community. Many believe her recently started Xbox profile had some fishy games and achievements, plus others have accused her of using an AI bot for follower interactions on X.

For now, though, Sharma has said all the right things, claiming she does not want to flood the Xbox ecosystem with “souless AI slop” and clarifying her Xbox profile was a shared family profile, hence the oddness of the games and achievements. 

Do you think Xbox is entering its final years or will the new CEO bring Xbox back to the forefront with PlayStation? Let us know in the comments and come join us in the GamerzTheory Discord!