Microsoft’s Xbox division may face one of its biggest layoffs ever in the name of ‘restructuring’ under its new leadership.
Known insider SneakerSO took to the NeoGAF forums to claim that the recent executive changes at Xbox may lead to the division facing one of its biggest layoffs ever in the name of ‘restructuring’ under its new leadership. According to them, this puts a “dagger” in Xbox’s hardware plans, as there is no worse scenario that could’ve happened than the division being handed over to former President of Product in Microsoft’s Core AI division Asha Sharma.
The insider further noted that former Xbox president Sarah Bond resigning is a major sign of what’s going on behind-the-scenes at the division. As per them, she was essentially former Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer’s disciple. The latter had led the Xbox division since 2014 and became CEO of Microsoft Gaming in 2022, up until his recent retirement.
The newly appointed Microsoft Gaming CEO Asha Sharma is a firm believer in AI, so much that she considers it the cure for declining fertility rates. Back in August, 2025, during an interview, she shared her vision for the technology, saying, “I think about like will my son have classmates in the future. It’s because the fertility rates are declining, right?” She noted that “the average birth rate in the 90s when we were growing up was like 3 and now it’s 2.3 and in 2050 it’s estimated to be below replacement.”
Rather than viewing AI as a disruptive force that replaces people, Sharma sees it as a tool that could help reverse these trends. She referenced a hospital in London “able to improve pregnancy rates by using AI to match eggs and sperms and they’re cutting costs at the same time.” Advances like these, she argued, show how AI can expand access to fertility treatments and improve outcomes.
