Microsoft has recruited game industry analyst Matthew Ball as Xbox's chief strategy officer, the company announced Wednesday, placing one of the gaming world's most cited voices directly inside the hardware maker's leadership.
Ball, author of the best-seller "The Metaverse" and creator of the widely circulated annual state of video gaming report, has been quietly advising new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma since day 10 of her tenure. That was 90 days ago, when Sharma took over for longtime Microsoft Gaming chief Phil Spencer in February.
Ball will report directly to Sharma.
"Matthew has been partnering with us on strategy since day 10 and will officially start this month, reporting to me," Sharma said in a memo to Xbox employees obtained by The Verge.
Sharma described Ball as a "longtime gamer" with strategy and leadership roles at Illumination, Amazon Studios, Otter Media, and Accenture Strategy. He previously served as head of strategy and planning for Amazon Studios.
Ball's first priority: strengthening the console side of Xbox, which has struggled in recent years. Xbox raised prices on its Series X|S consoles due to rising RAM and storage costs, and Ball has publicly described himself as "pretty frightened" about RAM shortages. The hire is part of a broader leadership overhaul under Sharma. Xbox also brought in Scott Van Vliet as chief technology officer.
Van Vliet previously led Azure AI infrastructure at Microsoft and has experience across cloud, commerce, gaming, and entertainment. He worked on Minecraft: Fire TV Edition and at Amazon Game Studios.
He'll begin ramping up now and formally start after Xbox's Showcase event next month.
Sharma also promoted Chris Schnakenberg to corporate vice president of partnerships and business development.
"Over the last 90 days we've been making changes to evolve how we work together and how we're set up to meet the moment," Sharma wrote in the memo obtained by Variety. "We have a clear strategy, but we still have important work ahead as we turn that strategy into better products and stronger fundamentals." The leadership moves come after Sharma rebranded Microsoft's gaming division back to Xbox and made price reductions for Game Pass. Xbox, celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, will present a roadmap for the rest of 2026 and tease plans beyond during its scheduled showcase next month.
"These changes are about strengthening our foundation by creating more clarity and improving execution," Sharma said. "As we head toward Showcase and beyond, we'll continue making the changes needed to position XBOX for the future."
