It's being reported today that Xbox is undergoing some leadership changes — with Microsoft Gaming Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Tim Stuart moving over to Bethesda's parent company, ZeniMax Media, as a Chief Operating Officer.
In Stuart's place will be Xavier Pokorzynsk, who's currently the corporate vice president of Microsoft Gaming and will be taking on the Chief Financial Officer role instead. All of this is according to "sources" over at Windows Central.
"Tim Stuart will be COO of ZeniMax in 2026, with Xavier Pokorzynski stepping into the role of Microsoft Gaming CFO."
Inevitibly people are going to question what this means, and honestly nobody knows for sure right now.
There are certainly theories though — here's how the website GuruFocus is analysing it:
"Microsoft (MSFT) has implemented significant leadership changes in its Xbox division. Tim Stuart, previously the Xbox CFO, is taking on a new role as Chief Operating Officer at ZeniMax. This move comes as part of a broader strategic realignment. Meanwhile, Xavier Pokorzynski, who has contributed to Microsoft’s gaming finance sector for almost 12 years, steps into the role of Chief Financial Officer for Microsoft Gaming. These adjustments indicate Microsoft's ongoing commitment to strengthening its gaming segment and aligning its management structure with future growth ambitions."
And The Verge editor Tom Warren questions whether it's related to tightening budgets:
Whatever the case may be, these changes will apparently be taking place in January of 2026. It will mark Stuart's first new role at Microsoft since becoming Xbox CFO in February 2015, while Pokorzynsk has been working in various finance-related roles at Microsoft in recent years and has been part of the Microsoft Gaming team since 2023.
We'll leave you with an image of Tim Stuart (on the left) with Phil Spencer as part of a Q&A panel in 2023:
