Xbox has brought in analyst Matthew Ball as chief strategy officer under new CEO Asha Sharma, part of a broader leadership refresh that also added Scott Van Vliet as CTO. Ball previously ran strategy at Amazon Studios and authors the annual State of Video Gaming report, where he has noted games losing ground in the attention battle against gambling, crypto, and porn among other distractions.

Sharma described the moves in a staff memo as efforts to add clarity and improve execution ahead of the June 7 Xbox Games Showcase. Ball's focus reportedly includes bolstering the console side amid rising component costs, following Sharma's earlier shifts away from certain AI experiments like the gaming Copilot feature.

The changes come after Phil Spencer's retirement earlier this year, with the new team tasked with positioning Xbox for longer-term hardware and business decisions. Project Helix dev kits are still slated for 2027 or later according to prior reporting.

Ball's hiring draws from his background as a venture capitalist and author on the metaverse, though some observers question how his prior experience translates to console revival efforts.