New Xbox CEO Asha Sharma makes first senior marketing hires
Somehow, Xbox and marketing never quite felt compatible. While Sony rolls out global campaigns for PlayStation, erecting large physical installations across major cities to promote its IP, Xbox often leans on smaller-scale partnerships, whether that is energy drinks or just Master Chief on the side of a bus.
If you couldn’t tell, I have long been disappointed with how Microsoft promotes its games. The effort has often felt minimal, and that extends to Xbox consoles as well, where marketing has been underwhelming while Sony continues to dominate in many regions.
A marketing reset for Xbox or am I being too hopeful?
The two new roles include Publishing & Lifecycle Marketing Leader – Xbox Game Studios, and Senior Product Marketing Manager – Xbox First Party Games. While both sit within marketing, they serve different functions.
Starting with the Publishing & Lifecycle Marketing Leader, this role is responsible for developing and executing how Xbox communicates with fans across devices and ecosystems. That means looking at the entire journey, from attracting new players to keeping existing ones engaged.
The job description makes it clear this is not just about launch campaigns. It focuses on lifecycle marketing, covering acquisition, retention, and ongoing engagement across devices.
Next up is the Senior Product Marketing Manager role, which is more specific in scope. It focuses on leading go-to-market efforts for a “beloved RPG franchise,” helping shape the next chapter of a globally recognised series and connecting it with millions of players.
Unlike the broader lifecycle position, this role is centred on a single franchise. It involves working closely with studio teams throughout development, influencing milestone reviews with marketing insight, and leading integrated global campaigns across console and PC.
The listing highlights audience segmentation, positioning, brand strategy, and performance marketing across the product lifecycle. In simple terms, this is about defining how the game is presented to players, who it is targeting, and how that message carries from reveal through launch and beyond.
While it is tempting to guess which franchise this could be tied to, the job description itself only confirms that it is an established and well-known RPG. What it clearly signals, however, is that Xbox is investing in dedicated, franchise-level marketing leadership for one of its major properties.
Let’s just hope whatever marketing shifts we do get are better than the now practically defunct “This is an Xbox” commercial that annoyed people internally at Xbox and made me and many others believe Xbox consoles weren’t important anymore.
🗨️ So where do you land? Is this the marketing reset Xbox needed?
Does Xbox actually have a marketing problem, or am I being too harsh? Are these hires enough to shift perception, or does it need something much bigger to compete?
Let me know in the comments, and make sure to take part in our poll below:
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