Xbox's first-ever COO is out after just three months

Imran Khan,Contributing Editor

October 26, 2026

schedule1 Min ReadImage via Xbox

The first-ever Chief Operating Officer at Xbox has left her position, just three months after it was created. Helen Chiang, who assumed the role in July of this year amidst significant layoffs and restructuring at Xbox, became the first-ever Chief Operating Officer for Xbox reporting directly to CEO Asha Sharma. As reported by The Verge, Chiang is leaving the role three months after it was created. The outlet obtained a memo from Sharma confirming Chiang's departure and indicating plans are not currently in place for a successor.

"Helen Chiang is leaving Microsoft today. I’m grateful for her years of service and wish her well,” Sharma reportedly wrote in an internal memo. “We’ll share more on COO leadership as plans are finalized."

Chiang, a 21-year-veteran of Microsoft who spent at least half her career at the company overseeing Minecraft, was placed in the role to focus on end-to-end profit and loss duties. At the time, Sharma described this new role as important to Xbox's vaunted "reset" initiative, stating ""[Chiang] 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."

The reasons for Chiang's seemingly abrupt departure after multiple decades with the company are unclear and are unlikely to become public. In a report from Eurogamer, the outlet's sources say Chiang was terminated for "policy violations," though Microsoft refused to confirm or deny this claim.

The Xbox reset initiative, which has been defined by mass job cuts and high-profile studio divestments, is expected to continue.

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About the Author

Imran Khan

Contributing Editor

Imran Khan has been in the games industry in various forms for over two decades. He has been a former senior editor at Game Informer, a professional loudmouth at Kinda Funny, and news director at Fanbyte. He has also been doing PR for Vicarious PR and Head of U.S. PR for Japanese VR studio MyDearest, in addition to Producer work on their latest title Brazen Blaze.

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