Xbox CEO Asha Sharma continues his efforts to usher in a new era for the platform, and this latest move could be the most impactful of his tenure. Following the inauguration of his own leadership team and the dismissal of some of the old guard he left behind Phil Spencer’s Today, Sharma has now brought in leading analysts in the industry, Matthew Ballbecome head of platform strategy, and Scott VanVliet to become chief technology officer, a report from The Game Business reveals.
If you recognize the name Matthew Ball, it’s because he’s an analyst who currently serves as CEO Epyllionand the person who publishes the annual The State of Video Games Report which is consistently sought to understand the industry’s performance each year.
According to the report, the first thing Ball did was help Xbox run its console business, which is certainly where the platform needs help the most. His strategy experience and presence as a popular veteran analyst make him seem like someone Xbox would want on its team, although of course only time will tell if his hire is truly a game changer for the platform.
After all, even the best strategists can’t plan their way around factors they can’t control, such as rising console prices and future generations, such as Helical Projectbecause of things like the ongoing memory crisis. There’s also the fact that Xbox consoles have consistently declined and lost market share across console generations so far. But it’s better to tackle those issues with someone like Ball on your side than without him.
Scott Van Vliet, for his part, is another ex OpenAI executive at Microsoft making the jump to Xbox, although this is also his return to the video game industry, as he previously worked on several popular mobile titles and ports for Minecraft on Amazon Fire TV.
While Ball’s first task was to build Xbox consoles en masse, Van Vliet’s first priority was to make the Xbox team more efficient at building products. Another leadership change noted in the report is another internal change, with Chris Schnakenberg is taking on the role of the company’s vice president of partnerships and business development, meaning he will lead third-party relationships with other publishers and developers.
“These changes aim to strengthen our foundation by creating more clarity and improving execution,” said Sharma when announcing the news to Xbox staff. “As we head into Showcase and beyond, we’ll continue to make the changes necessary to position Xbox for the future.“
All the changes Sharma has made, not only with these signings but also dropping the ‘This is Xbox’ campaign, lowering the price of Game Pass Ultimate, being more transparent with players about future plans, asking for more direct input from players, changing the logo and division name, and discontinuing Gaming Copilot, all provide the same energy you’d get from your favorite professional sports team that just had a bad season, and is now having a very active off-season.
Change is clearly occurring, and even without a statement admitting organizational error, the change itself is an admission that what came before wasn’t working. It’s exciting for Xbox players and fans of the platform to see all these changes, but we won’t know if any of them are successful until we return to the regular season. Of course, there are no ‘off’ periods in the video game industry, but the reality is we won’t know whether everything Sharma has done to lead Xbox so far has been successful or not until we’re at least a year into his tenure.
It will be interesting to see where Xbox stands in a year’s time. Hopefully, things get better, as the entire video game industry benefits when all of its platform creators are competitive and successful.
About the author: David has been writing about videogames, technology, and culture since 2020, with a focus on reporting daily news at various publications, including GameDaily.Biz, GameSkinny, and PlayStation Universe before joining Wccftech in 2025. David began contributing as a Canada/US reporter for Wccftech’s gaming section in 2025. In addition to keeping up with industry developments, he enjoys interviewing developers, reviewing games, and writing complex essays about the layered symbolism and meaning to be found in rich narratives as he does for the publication. such as GamesIndustry.Biz, LostInCult, and others. Outside of gaming he loves movies, music, theater, his hometown, and his family, although not necessarily in that order.
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