CE DESK 
Microsoft promotes Asha Sharma to Executive Vice President and CEO of Microsoft Gaming, leveraging her cloud and India leadership to steer Xbox, Activision Blizzard, and global gaming growth.
Microsoft has elevated Asha Sharma to Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft Gaming, positioning her to lead the companys expansive gaming ecosystem including Xbox, Activision Blizzard, and Game Pass amid intensifying industry competition. Sharma transitions from her role as Corporate Vice President of Microsoft India and South Asia, bringing proven expertise in scaling cloud infrastructure and emerging market strategies to the $200 billion gaming sector.
In her new global role, Sharma oversees content creation, platform development, and monetization across console, PC, cloud, and mobile channels. Reporting to CEO Satya Nadella, she inherits a portfolio transformed by the $69 billion Activision Blizzard acquisition, now featuring Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Candy Crush alongside first-party hits like Halo and Forza. Priorities include accelerating Game Pass subscriptions toward 50 million users and multiplatform expansions countering Sonys PlayStation dominance.
Sharmas track record at Microsoft India delivered Azure hyperscale growth and AI sovereign cloud initiatives, skills directly transferable to gaming’s cloud streaming ambitions via Xbox Cloud Gaming. Her leadership emphasizes inclusive creator ecosystems, esports investments, and AI-enhanced experiences like generative level design, addressing talent retention post-layoffs and regulatory hurdles in Europe.
This internal promotion signals Microsofts Asia-to-global mobility strategy, with Sharma tasked to fuse subscription models with advertising revenue amid macroeconomic pressures. Gaming contributes 10% to Microsofts topline, yet faces live-service pivots and metaverse uncertainties. Sharmas vision promises agile innovation blending Eastern scale with Western creativity, fortifying Microsoft against Nintendo and Epic Games while championing diversity in a male-dominated field. Her appointment underscores gaming as a core pillar in Microsofts AI-cloud convergence era.
