Helen Chiang, the first chief operating officer in Xbox history, has left Microsoft about three months after taking the job. Her departure was announced in an internal memo from Xbox CEO Asha Sharma, obtained by The Verge and reported on October 23.
A long career, a short role
Longtime followers of Xbox know the name: Chiang spent 21 years at Microsoft and, before becoming COO in July, led Mojang and the Minecraft franchise, one of the biggest phenomena in gaming history. The COO role had been created for her.
What we know
The memo was brief: it announced her departure and thanked her for her service, without giving a reason. According to the memo, Chiang’s responsibilities will be split among other Xbox leaders on an interim basis, and the future of the role will be announced later. Asked about it, Microsoft said only that it does not discuss individual personnel matters.
The change comes during a reorganization at Xbox, with Asha Sharma in charge and the company rethinking services such as Game Pass and Xbox Cloud Gaming. There is no word yet on who will take over the duties permanently.
Source: The Verge (internal memo from Asha Sharma), GamesRadar and GamesBeat.
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