What you need to know
- Xbox CVP Kareem Choudhry is leaving Microsoft effective today.
- Choudhry has worked on some of Microsoft’s most advanced gaming technologies, from Xbox Cloud Gaming to its latest AI endeavors.
- Choudhry’s exit comes ahead of a broader Xbox management reshuffle, with some team members being promoted and new staff coming on board.
- The broader leadership change is intended to streamline processes and help Microsoft accelerate development plans for Xbox Game Pass, Xbox hardware and more.
- Windows Central understands that Kareem’s exit was amicable and casual, not part of a wider reorganization.
Microsoft’s gaming organization has become one of the biggest contributors to Microsoft’s overall revenue share, with Xbox now surpassing Windows itself as one of the biggest drivers of revenue. That’s thanks in no small part to the acquisition of Activision-Blizzard, which counts Candy Crush Saga, World of Warcraft and Call of Duty among its various billion-dollar verticals.
To that end, Microsoft is rapidly evolving how it thinks about gaming today and for the future of Xbox. It also means some leadership changes.
After 26 years with Microsoft, our sources say Kareem Choudhry has left the company. Choudhry is known to Xbox fans for saying “he eats a monster for breakfast” in reference to the Xbox Series X and “it’s a monster” in reference to the Xbox One X. Microsoft’s most advanced projects, including the Xbox backwards compatibility layer, Xbox Cloud Gaming, and the development of Microsoft’s new game AI division, known internally as XEmTech, or Xbox’s Emerging Tech team. Today is Choudhry’s last day at Microsoft, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The XEmTech org will transition to the overall Xbox hardware organization run by Roanne Sones. Sones is best known for his work as an OEM specialist in the Windows division, helping companies like Dell and HP get the most out of Windows for their PC manufacturing efforts. I spoke with Sones at Gamescom last year, where he made no secret of his interest in Microsoft’s gaming hardware. Also while I’m here, Jason Ronald remains as a Technical Advisor under the Xbox hardware umbrella, as I’ve seen some reports in certain places that he’s no longer involved in leading the charge for Xbox hardware – he is!
In an internal memo described to us, Microsoft noted that moving the AI team below the hardware ecosystem will accelerate innovation in this space. Microsoft is known to be working on machine learning technology to improve graphics with DirectSR, as well as an Xbox AI chatbot tool to handle support queries from both external and internal users.
Ashley McKissick and Kevin Gammill lead a newly created organization called the Xbox Experiences and Platforms teams, which I understand will reinvigorate investment in polishing the overall Xbox experience on Windows and Xbox consoles. Catherine Gluckstein will now lead Microsoft’s Xbox Strategy and Regulatory team thanks to her experience and success in navigating the regulatory nightmare that is the Activision-Blizzard purchase at the EU, UK CMA and US FTC. Additionally, Jennifer Creegan is stepping outside of Microsoft’s broader Advertising organization to lead analytics and business planning for the Microsoft Gaming team.
Set up your Xbox for success
Losing Kareem Choudhry is an incredible shame, given Choudhry’s remarkable contributions to Xbox and gaming innovation. Choudhry contributed to the Xbox backwards compatibility program, which remains among the best game protection programs for all games this side of Windows itself. He was also instrumental in the creation of Xbox Cloud Gaming, which is a huge growth vector for Microsoft in certain markets and will help Microsoft stake a claim in the growing market. Kareem has also helped shape Microsoft’s growing AI efforts, which are heavily focused on accelerating game development, and I’m also heavily focused on how to ensure some ethical safeguards. Choudhry’s passion for Xbox, technology, and gaming in general was always evident whenever I had the opportunity to speak with him. As far as I understand, and although I don’t yet know the exact reasons, Choudhry’s departure was not part of a broader reorganization of Microsoft that began late last year.
RELATED: Xbox’s growing pains and its strange future.
Microsoft is launching various initiatives internally to improve some of the pain points I mentioned in my last article about Xbox strategy above. These include innovating hardware, exploring ways to expand Xbox into new markets, and increasing marketing and investment for Xbox Game Pass — rather than reducing it, according to some reports. Microsoft is also working hard to further integrate Activision-Blizzard, which includes bringing some of Activision’s popular back catalog of games to Xbox Game Pass, which recently started with Diablo IV.