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Asha Sharma’s Xbox plan called for 3,200 job cuts

Wall Street Journal excerpts shared by a user on September 12, 2026, say 1,250 layoffs had yet to be carried out, leaving some Xbox employees anxious.

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2 Sources, 19d ago, first seen 19d ago

TLDR

According to Wall Street Journal excerpts shared by a user on September 12, 2026, Asha Sharma announced plans in July to eliminate 3,200 Xbox jobs—about 20% of its staff—and reduce the number of games it makes. The excerpts say 1,250 layoffs remained pending: some employees reported continued anxiety, while others appreciated her seriousness about stabilizing the business. Sharma said she took the Xbox job believing its excellent game-development capabilities would benefit from better strategy and execution.

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2 Sources, first seen 19d ago

5.6K likes82 comments934 saves381 reposts

Combined views

263.1K

2 Sources, first seen 19d ago

5.6K likes82 comments934 saves381 reposts

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2 Sources

@IdleSloth84_Asha Sharma Fixing a Microsoft Mess With Brutal Honesty | WSJ “She’s very intense,” said Stan Chudnovsky, who was Sharma’s boss at Meta. “She works very hard and she expects the people around her to work very hard as well.” In late 2025, she sat down in CEO Satya Nadella's office for a meeting and was stunned when he asked her to consider taking over Xbox. Company leaders liked how Sharma had put herself in the minds of AI developers despite no experience in that world and were confident she could do the same with gamers, Microsoft's chief people officer Amy Coleman said. Sharma was also one of Microsoft's few rising stars with experience running consumer businesses. Sharma said she concluded that Xbox had excellent game development capabilities, but would benefit from better strategy and execution—so she took the job. 'It wasn't, "Do I want to do this?" but, "Do I believe the theory of the case that I can add unique value?"' she said. In July, Sharma announced that Xbox would eliminate 3,200 jobs, about 20% of its staff, and cut the number of games it makes. Microsoft hasn't yet carried out 1,250 of the layoffs, and, as a result, some employees say anxiety in their ranks remains high. Others say they appreciate how serious Sharma is about stabilizing their business. "She's uniquely effective at cutting through and communicating clearly, 'Here's what the issues are and here's where the opportunities are,'" said Todd Howard After a decade of acquisitions and expansions by Spencer, Sharma is cutting output and focusing on key franchises she thinks have room to grow, like "Elder Scrolls" and "Halo." She wants to enhance user-created content on "Minecraft," which would position it as a more direct rival to "Roblox," and make Xbox an attractive distribution partner for independent developers. She wants to license more Xbox material for film and TV. And she recently stole one of Sony's top developers, "Metal Gear Solid" creator Hideo Kojima. She's won praise for removing a widely disliked Xbox AI assistant and making it easier for people who own games on discs to get digital copies. To better understand players, she spends a few hours each month responding to customer support tickets, during which she's learned how complex it can be to fix a single player's problem. via: WJS https://www.wsj.com/tech/xbox-microsoft-asha-sharma-videogame-03eb23ba?st=YsGtTJ&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
@InsiderGamingIGAsha Sharma’s Plan to Fix XBOX Starts With Brutal Honesty, 'Clarity Is Kindness' https://insider-gaming.com/asha-sharmas-plan-to-fix-xbox-clarity-is-kindness/
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    2 Sources

    @IdleSloth84_Asha Sharma Fixing a Microsoft Mess With Brutal Honesty | WSJ “She’s very intense,” said Stan Chudnovsky, who was Sharma’s boss at Meta. “She works very hard and she expects the people around her to work very hard as well.” In late 2025, she sat down in CEO Satya Nadella's office for a meeting and was stunned when he asked her to consider taking over Xbox. Company leaders liked how Sharma had put herself in the minds of AI developers despite no experience in that world and were confident she could do the same with gamers, Microsoft's chief people officer Amy Coleman said. Sharma was also one of Microsoft's few rising stars with experience running consumer businesses. Sharma said she concluded that Xbox had excellent game development capabilities, but would benefit from better strategy and execution—so she took the job. 'It wasn't, "Do I want to do this?" but, "Do I believe the theory of the case that I can add unique value?"' she said. In July, Sharma announced that Xbox would eliminate 3,200 jobs, about 20% of its staff, and cut the number of games it makes. Microsoft hasn't yet carried out 1,250 of the layoffs, and, as a result, some employees say anxiety in their ranks remains high. Others say they appreciate how serious Sharma is about stabilizing their business. "She's uniquely effective at cutting through and communicating clearly, 'Here's what the issues are and here's where the opportunities are,'" said Todd Howard After a decade of acquisitions and expansions by Spencer, Sharma is cutting output and focusing on key franchises she thinks have room to grow, like "Elder Scrolls" and "Halo." She wants to enhance user-created content on "Minecraft," which would position it as a more direct rival to "Roblox," and make Xbox an attractive distribution partner for independent developers. She wants to license more Xbox material for film and TV. And she recently stole one of Sony's top developers, "Metal Gear Solid" creator Hideo Kojima. She's won praise for removing a widely disliked Xbox AI assistant and making it easier for people who own games on discs to get digital copies. To better understand players, she spends a few hours each month responding to customer support tickets, during which she's learned how complex it can be to fix a single player's problem. via: WJS https://www.wsj.com/tech/xbox-microsoft-asha-sharma-videogame-03eb23ba?st=YsGtTJ&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
    @InsiderGamingIGAsha Sharma’s Plan to Fix XBOX Starts With Brutal Honesty, 'Clarity Is Kindness' https://insider-gaming.com/asha-sharmas-plan-to-fix-xbox-clarity-is-kindness/
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