Xbox Appoints Industry Expert Matthew Ball to Head Strategic Initiatives

Microsoft has brought on board gaming industry analyst Matthew Ball as the new chief strategy officer for Xbox. Ball is known for his annual state of video gaming report, which has gained popularity within the gaming community, and he is regarded as a respected figure across gaming, media, and technology, according to Xbox CEO Asha Sharma.

Sharma shared the news of Ball’s appointment in a memo to Xbox employees, highlighting his extensive background as a “longtime gamer” with experience in strategy and leadership roles at various companies, including Illumination, Amazon Studios, Otter Media, and Accenture Strategy. “Matthew has been partnering with us on strategy since day 10 and will officially start this month, reporting to me,” Sharma noted.

This means Ball has been advising Sharma on Xbox strategy since she took over the role 90 days ago. Many have been eager for a clearer vision of Xbox’s future beyond the notion of “a return of Xbox,” and Ball’s recruitment sheds light on the delay in that communication.

In addition to Ball’s appointment, Xbox has a new chief technology officer. “Scott Van Vliet is joining as our CTO,” Sharma announced. “Scott has spent more than two decades building technology and consumer platforms across cloud, commerce, gaming, and entertainment.”

Before joining Xbox, Van Vliet led Azure AI infrastructure at Microsoft and has a history with Amazon, working on Fire TV, the Appstore, and more. “Scott has also been part of the Xbox community since the original Live beta in 2002,” Sharma added. “There are no changes to Hardware, Helix, or OS, which will continue reporting to me. Scott will begin ramping up now and formally start after Showcase.”

Sharma is also promoting Chris Schnakenberg to corporate vice president of partnerships and business development as part of the recent leadership changes at Xbox. This marks the second significant shift in Xbox leadership within a few weeks, following Sharma’s earlier additions of new team members from Microsoft’s CoreAI division. It appears that more changes may be on the horizon.

“These changes are about strengthening our foundation by creating more clarity and improving execution,” Sharma stated. “As we head toward Showcase and beyond, we’ll continue making the changes needed to position Xbox for the future.”