Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has had a busy first six months at the company, making several big changes that are often in the limelight. But did you know that along with all of that, she is also responding to user complaints personally? Yes, you read that right. According to a new report, Sharma spends a few hours every month responding to Xbox customer support tickets herself. The idea is to understand the problems players face by dealing with them directly. The experience has reportedly shown her how complicated it can be to solve what may look like a small issue for a single player. Read on to know all that is happening.
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According to a recent report in The Wall Street Journal, Sharma has been spending a few hours each month going through, and responding to, customer support tickets. WSJ adds that this is a part of her effort to better understand Xbox players.
That means there is a chance that some Xbox users who contacted customer support in recent months may have had their issue handled by the company’s CEO herself, not an AI chatbot or an executive.
And the report also says that Sharma has learned how resolving a single player’s problem can be much more complicated than it may appear.
For a company as large as Microsoft, customer complaints are usually handled by dedicated support teams. Having the CEO personally go through some of these cases gives Sharma a direct look at the issues players are dealing with, rather than relying only on internal reports and feedback.
Now, coming to the big changes at Xbox we mentioned earlier. We all know how Sharma’s first few months as Xbox CEO have included some major decisions.
To recall a few, Microsoft ended its divisive “This is Xbox” marketing campaign under her leadership. Then, the company also changed its Xbox Game Pass strategy, including lowering the price of the Ultimate subscription.
Sharma has also expanded Xbox’s relationship with Hideo Kojima. The company recently signed the game director to a multi-project deal that now includes Physint, his upcoming action and espionage game, alongside the previously announced horror title OD.
But Sharma’s tenure has also included some difficult decisions. Roughly 2 months back, Microsoft announced mass layoffs across its gaming business, while several development studios have also been spun out.
These moves show how much Xbox is changing under Sharma. But her reported decision to personally handle support tickets offers a look at a less visible part of her job. Big game announcements and major business decisions may grab more attention, but customer complaints can reveal problems that do not always show up in company reports.
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