New Microsoft Xbox leadership reorg says goodbye to 26-year veteran Kareem Choudhry

Saying goodbye to a veteran of gaming

3 min. read

Published onApril 5, 2024

published onApril 5, 2024

Share this article

Read our disclosure page to find out how can you help Windows Report sustain the editorial teamRead more

As Microsoft continues to wrap its corporate arms around its $68B Activision acquisition, its Xbox division is wrangling with yet another shuffling of executive chairs and business priorities that’s resulted in veteran Kareem Choudhry leaving as the division purses growth in new avenues.

Choudhry, a 26-year veteran of the Xbox business is exiting stage left as of today due to ‘circumstantial’ reasons, according toreports from Windows Central. Choudry’s contributions include the development and marketing of the Xbox Series, the Xbox backward compatibility layer, Xbox Cloud Gaming and the formation of a new gaming AI division within Microsoft.

Choudhry’s AI gaming division is an internal project referred to as Xbox’s Emerging Tech team or XEmTech for short.

XEmTech will endure as Choudhry departs and be led by Roanne Sones, an OEM expert formerly from within Microsoft’s Windows business. XEmTech will shift into the fold of the Xbox hardware division proper with a rumored interest in developing some sort of handheld console for the business. Jason Ronald could accompany Sones and XEmTech alongside a pursuit of a handheld Xbox experience from his current position as Tech Advisor within the Xbox hardware division.

The folks over at Windows Centra managed to get insider information from an internal memo circulating in the Xbox division that positioning the new AI team under the general Xbox gaming hardware division should allow the overall business to “accelerate innovation”.

Additional re-org musical chairs consist of Ashely McKissick and Kevin Gammill promoted to heads of the newly established Xbox Experiences and Platforms division tasked with improving the overall Xbox experience between Windows and Xbox. The Xbox Experiences and Platforms team could be the link that many of the most recently Windows-powered handhelds have been looking for to make those experiences feel more native and less convoluted than they currently are.

After successfully navigating the Xbox and Activision regulatory process, Catherine Gluckstein will be promoted to lead of the Xbox Strategy and Regulatory team as Microsoft Advertising executive Jennifer Creegan moves to of Microsoft’s Gaming analytics and business planning division.

Microsoft’s Xbox division now has a much brighter spotlight on it following its $68B investment and will need to quickly justify its price tag plus its public fights with international regulatory bodies, hence the evolving reorg of the business. It’ll be interesting to see what the business brings forth in the second half of 2024 and into 2025 as a result of all this shuffling.

With KB5043178 to Release Preview Channel, Microsoft advises Windows 11 users to plug in when the battery is low#

Copilot in Outlook will generate personalized themes for you to customize the app#

Microsoft will raise the price of its 365 Suite to include AI capabilities#

Death Stranding Director’s Cut is now Xbox X|S at a huge discount#

Outlook will let users create custom account icons so they can tell their accounts apart easier#

New Microsoft Xbox leadership reorg says goodbye to 26-year veteran Kareem Choudhry#

With KB5043178 to Release Preview Channel, Microsoft advises Windows 11 users to plug in when the battery is low

Copilot in Outlook will generate personalized themes for you to customize the app

Microsoft will raise the price of its 365 Suite to include AI capabilities

Death Stranding Director’s Cut is now Xbox X|S at a huge discount

Outlook will let users create custom account icons so they can tell their accounts apart easier

New Microsoft Xbox leadership reorg says goodbye to 26-year veteran Kareem Choudhry