Xbox has confirmed that Helen Chiang has been promoted to the role of new chief operating officer in the wake of structural changes at Microsoft. The appointment was confirmed in an X post by Asha Sharma, the CEO of Xbox, which addressed a host of changes within the company, including the news that Microsoft is selling five game studios.
“For the first time, we are establishing a chief operating officer with end-to-end P&L responsibility across content, hardware, platform, and services. Helen Chiang has been promoted to this role and will report directly to me,” said Sharma on X.
Sharma added, “Over nearly two decades at Xbox, Helen has helped build some of our most important businesses, from Xbox Live to leading Mojang and the Minecraft franchise. She will bring our businesses together under one operating model, making sure we make clear investment decisions, learn from our successes and failures, and hold ourselves accountable for results.”
Helen Chiang has served as corporate vice president for the Minecraft Franchise since 2020, along with being the studio head at Minecraft since 2018.
Chiang’s appointment comes along with the news that corporate vice president of Xbox product services, Dave McCarthy, will be retiring after 17 years with Xbox.
“Thank you, Dave McCarthy, who is retiring after 17 years with XBOX. Dave has played a defining role in building the platform that millions of players rely on every day and has been a trusted partner through many of the biggest moments in XBOX’s history. We wish him all the best,” said Sharma in the same X post.
“These changes are about a bigger future for XBOX, not a smaller one. The next decade of gaming will be larger, more global, and more creative than anything we’ve seen before. This year, we’ll invest as much in XBOX as we ever have, but we’ll invest with greater focus, greater discipline, and greater clarity, all in service of making XBOX where the world plays and creates.”
McCarthy joined Microsoft in 2009 and held multiple roles within Microsoft Studios, including serving as General Manager for Xbox Live Arcade, Global Publishing, and Kids & Lifestyle Entertainment, overseeing products and franchises such as Kinect Sesame Street, Xbox Fitness, Project Spark, 1 vs 100, and more.