Xbox's first COO Helen Chiang exits after three months; duties split

Helen Chiang, the first chief operating officer in Xbox’s history, left Microsoft on October 23, three months after taking the job. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma announced it in an internal memo seen by The Verge, and Chiang’s duties have been divided among other Xbox leaders for now. ¹

The memo was short. “Helen Chiang is leaving Microsoft today. I’m grateful for her years of service and wish her well,” Sharma wrote, adding that more on COO leadership would follow once plans are finalized. ¹² A successor has not been named. ³

Chiang spent 21 years at Microsoft and ran Minecraft before her promotion in July. ¹ Sharma created the COO role during the restructuring she announced that month, giving it end-to-end profit-and-loss responsibility across content, hardware, platform and services. Chiang reported directly to Sharma. ¹² That restructuring included 3,200 layoffs across the fiscal year, 1,600 of them on July 6. ⁴

What we know

Microsoft has declined to discuss the circumstances. Kari Perez, Xbox’s vice president of communications, said the company does not discuss individual personnel matters and wished Chiang well. ¹⁵

Eurogamer separately reported that a source it described as verified alleged Chiang was “terminated for policy violations.” Eurogamer said it could not independently verify the claim. ⁵ GamesIndustry.biz repeated the allegation, attributing it to Eurogamer. ³ Treat it as an unconfirmed claim from one anonymous source. Xbox has not commented on it, and Eurogamer said it had contacted Chiang.

What we do not

Neither the company nor any named source has given a reason for the exit. Sharma’s memo did not say whether Chiang resigned or was dismissed. The Verge noted that the abrupt memo and the immediate reassignment of her duties make it look like she did not choose to leave. ¹

The departure comes while Xbox is still cutting. Additional layoffs are reportedly planned for November and January. ¹³ Earlier this week Microsoft offered voluntary exit packages to up to 60,000 employees in the US, UK, Canada and India, including Xbox staff. ³ Arkane Lyon, the studio behind Marvel’s Blade, reportedly has until mid-November to find a buyer or face closure. ⁵²

The role Chiang held was the centerpiece of Sharma’s pitch to staff. In July, Sharma said the COO would bring the businesses together under one operating model and hold teams accountable for results. ² Sharma’s wording on Chiang’s successor suggests the position will survive. ¹

Our read: A new executive seat, built to run the business end to end, sat empty of its first occupant in a single quarter, and the CEO’s memo gave the departure two sentences. Whoever fills the job will inherit a restructuring that is not finished, and will report to the same person who created the role. Until Sharma names a successor, her own office holds the operating authority she delegated in July. The next fixed date to watch is mid-November, when Arkane Lyon’s window reportedly closes. ⁵²

Footnotes

1. theverge.com, “Xbox first COO Helen Chiang leaves after three months”. Retrieved October 28, 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

2. IGN, “Xbox’s First-Ever Chief Operating Officer Leaves Role Just Three Months After It Was Created”. Retrieved October 28, 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

3. GamesIndustry.biz, “First Xbox COO Helen Chiang leaves company after three months in the role”. Retrieved October 28, 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

4. IGN, “Microsoft Announces ‘Most Significant Restructure in Xbox History’”. Retrieved October 28, 2026. ↩

5. Eurogamer, “Xbox’s first chief operating officer Helen Chiang leaves Microsoft just three months into the job”. Retrieved October 28, 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴