Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has named prominent industry analyst Matthew Ball as the company’s new Chief Strategy Officer. The appointment, detailed in an internal Microsoft memo, marks the second major executive shake-up at the gaming division in recent weeks as Sharma looks to revitalize Microsoft’s struggling console hardware business.
Ball—the founder and CEO of advisory firm Epyllion and author of the 2022 book The Metaverse—is widely recognized in the tech sector for his comprehensive, annual “State of Video Gaming” whitepapers. In his new role, Ball will report directly to CEO Asha Sharma.
An “Irresistible” Mission to Revive Legacy Franchises
Ball is already well-acquainted with Xbox’s internal direction. In an interview with Bloomberg, he revealed that he had been informally advising Sharma since her tenth day on the job.
Describing the offer to officially join the leadership team as “irresistible,” Ball noted a deep personal attachment to the brand, citing “thousands of memories in specific basements playing Halo and Gears of War.”
His primary mandate at the division will be tackling head-on the systemic issues currently dragging down Xbox console sales, which include:
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The Global Memory Crunch: Overcoming persistent component shortages that have disrupted production.
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Sluggish Software Pipeline: Accelerating a historically slow cadence of major first-party game updates.
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Shrinking Competitive Case: Re-establishing market share against Sony’s PlayStation ecosystem and Nintendo’s upcoming Switch successor.
Scott Van Vliet Joins as New Chief Technology Officer
Alongside Ball’s appointment, Microsoft is bolstering its engineering leadership by bringing back company veteran Scott Van Vliet as Xbox’s Chief Technology Officer.
| Executive | New Position | Core Mandate & Background |
| Matthew Ball | Chief Strategy Officer | Driving long-term corporate growth, platform strategy, and intellectual property revival. Former Head of Strategy at Amazon Studios. |
| Scott Van Vliet | Chief Technology Officer | Streamlining and accelerating the game and software product development pipeline. Former Corporate VP of Azure OpenAI and AI Infrastructure. |
| Chris Schnakenberg | Corporate VP of Partnerships & BizDev | Expanding third-party relations and ecosystem growth. (Promoted from within). |
Van Vliet, who has spent over two decades at Microsoft and previously logged stints on Amazon’s Fire TV team, will focus entirely on standardizing faster product development cycles. However, the hardware division—including the development of the next-generation console codenamed Project Helix and the underlying Xbox OS—will remain directly under the supervision of CEO Asha Sharma.
Looking Ahead
Commenting on the executive restructuring, Sharma noted that the changes are aimed at “strengthening our foundation by creating more clarity and improving execution,” while hinting that further organizational adjustments may follow.
Van Vliet is scheduled to formally step into his role immediately following the marquee Xbox Games Showcase on June 7, 2026, where the newly structured leadership team is expected to lay out its upcoming software lineup.
