As former Xbox CEO Phil Spencer prepares to exit, we caught up with incoming CEO Asha Sharma and newly promoted CCO Matt Booty to learn about what the future holds for Microsoft’s gaming operation.
As former Xbox CEO Phil Spencer prepares to exit, we caught up with incoming CEO Asha Sharma and newly promoted CCO Matt Booty to learn about what the future holds for Microsoft’s gaming operation.
She doesn’t have no gamerscore, she has like 1200 because her account was set up like a month ago and she has some token achievements she probably didn’t earn.
It’s not about the amount or how much. Phil Spencer had a lot because he was a gamer and an exec. He was one of us, more or less, he played games and he liked working in gaming. I don’t agree with all of his gaming opinions (in fact, mine are fairly uncommon, so that just comes with the territory).
I have a pretty high amount just because I’ve been gaming since before most people here were born. So I’ve had an Xbox account for something like 20 years. I’ve only really gone after a few achievements. Mostly I just play. Over time, that builds up. I’ve worked longer hours than a lot of people, in jobs most people are too good to do. “Work hard, play hard” may be a cliche, but I don’t smoke, I don’t drink, I don’t do recreational drugs, and I don’t engage in extramarital affairs. I’m not a woodworker or a gearhead — gaming is my hobby. It’s what I do to relax at the end of the day, if I have time. If I don’t have time for a more “serious” game on the Xbox, I fire up my Switch and dick around on my Animal Crossing island. I’ve already rolled the credits (several times, long story, AC fans get it) but it’s somehow fun to just run around and talk to animals and catch bugs and shit. Either way, it’s what I do and I’ve been doing it for a long time.
I just think someone who’s been playing games for years would make a better executive of a company’s gaming division than someone who’s never picked up a controller. LOTS of people play games. If someone never games, that says to me they don’t like gaming — and they possibly don’t like gamers. It’s not a good look. Especially juxtaposed with the rise in AI and Microsoft bringing an AI exec in to run Xbox. It’s not a good look at all.
I agree with you, I just don’t care about gamerscore and I don’t think it has any relevance in any topic.
We all know she is not a gamer, we all know she’s an ex-AI exec and that’s why I think she doesn’t have what it takes to save Xbox. I just think that using achievements as a metric and being proud of having more achievements than another person is weird.
I also think that her setting up an Xbox account to play a month before her promotion is a stupid “how do you do, fellow gamers?” marketing pitch that I’m not sure why was attempted in the first place.