The executive brought in to hold Xbox together through its biggest-ever restructuring is gone — three months after the job was created. Helen Chiang, Xbox’s first-ever chief operating officer, is leaving Microsoft, confirmed by Xbox CEO Asha Sharma in an internal memo circulated on October 23 and obtained by The Verge. “Helen Chiang is leaving Microsoft today,” the memo reads. “I’m grateful for her years of service and wish her well.”
No reason was given. Sharma wrote that Chiang’s “immediate responsibilities are being split up between other Xbox leaders for now” and that “we’ll share more on COO leadership as plans are finalized” — meaning the role has no successor and no clear future. Xbox’s only formal statement, issued to Eurogamer: “We don’t discuss individual personnel matters. We’re grateful for Helen’s years of service and wish her well.”
A ‘Policy Violations’ Allegation Hangs Over the Exit
One more detail, with an asterisk attached: a source within Microsoft, described by Eurogamer as familiar with the situation, told the outlet that Chiang had been “terminated for policy violations” — a claim Eurogamer explicitly says it has not been able to independently verify. Until Xbox or Chiang says more, that allegation remains exactly that: an allegation. Chiang herself has not publicly commented.
The Verge’s Tom Warren, who first obtained the memo, reads the exit the same way: “The sudden and short memo from Sharma, coupled with Chiang’s responsibilities being assigned to other Xbox leaders, makes it seem like this wasn’t a resignation.” The departure also lands amid rumors that Xbox is preparing more layoffs this month, in November, and January.
Who Helen Chiang Is — and Why This Role Existed
The departure stings because of who Chiang is. She spent 21 years at Microsoft — starting in 2005 and moving to Xbox in 2007, where Sharma credits her with helping build Xbox Live, and where she was part of the team that ushered in Xbox Live and the Xbox Live Arcade era. She later led Mojang as head of Minecraft, becoming corporate vice president of the Minecraft franchise in 2020.
Sharma created the COO position for her in July as part of her controversial “reset” of Xbox, handing it end-to-end profit-and-loss responsibility across content, hardware, platform, and services — a role Sharma said was needed to “work toward a shared goal, make the right tradeoffs, and get things done.” Chiang reported directly to Sharma, and was promoted to “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.” That same reset is the one that gutted the organization: roughly 3,200 job cuts by the end of fiscal year 2027, described as the most significant restructuring in Xbox history, with Double Fine, Undead Labs, and Compulsion Games pushed out to go independent, Ninja Theory likely to close after two acquisition deals fell through, and Arkane Lyon given until November to find a buyer.
Another Shake-Up in a Year Full of Them
Chiang’s exit is the latest turn in a leadership year Xbox would probably like to forget. Sharma herself took the CEO post in February after Phil Spencer retired and Xbox president Sarah Bond left the company. Xbox has since named a former Reddit product chief as CEO of Mojang, and amid intensifying layoffs, ballooning game budgets, and Game Pass shortfalls, Kotaku’s verdict on the COO role was that it was created “as a means to assure long-term stability in an operation that looks like anything but.” TechPowerUp’s is blunter: “Losing the executive meant to hold the whole business together this early into the reset probably isn’t the kind of stability Xbox was hoping for.”
The reset rolls on regardless — with the COO chair now empty, and a growing list of executives who won’t be sitting in it.
Sources
- The Verge — Xbox’s first chief operating officer is out after just a few months
- Eurogamer — Xbox’s first chief operating officer Helen Chiang leaves Microsoft just three months into the job
- Kotaku — Xbox’s Chief Operating Officer Out Three Months After Role’s Creation
- TechPowerUp — Xbox Loses Its First Chief Operating Officer Mid-Reset
- PC Gamer — Top Xbox exec promoted in brand ‘reset’ leaves after 3 months in role