Everyone's having an opinion on the new Xbox boss Asha Sharma at the moment, and Peter Moore (a former Xbox boss himself) is one of them — he's just been interviewed by the folks over at GamesBeat.
Moore is of the opinion that Sharma is going to be "just fine" in the role as Microsoft Gaming CEO, but admits she's got plenty of challenges to navigate along the way. For example, he mentions how she has a lot to learn about the gaming industry itself, along with the perils of social media and the negative feelings surrounding her AI background.
However, he wishes her "all the best", says he'll be watching closely, and has various bits of advice to share:
"My advice would be to listen. Maybe a little less on social media right now, putting your gamertag out and explaining yourself and apologizing at times. There’s nothing to apologize for. But listen, learn, understand what your team–it’s a massive group of people there now, much bigger than when I was there. Understand what gamers want and the journey that Xbox has been on since those very early days."
"Listen, learn, keep your head down from time to time. Don’t try to be inauthentic. Challenge your PR team and what they think you should do if you don’t feel it’s right. Keep that controller in your hand every night for the next six weeks. Keep the gamertag going full bore. The more you play, the more you learn. She’ll be just fine. It’s going to be a very interesting period."
The full interview is a long one, and Moore discusses various topics — such as how he feels that some of the "fun" has been taken out of the industry, and he'd love to see Sharma bringing that spirit back. He mentions how much he actually enjoyed the "sense of competition" brought about by the console wars, and suggests that he and the PlayStation and Nintendo bosses actually had "so much fun" competing with each other back in the day.
He also makes a point of saying how Phil Spencer is a "wonderful human being" and that it hurts to see criticism from some people "who don’t know" the impact he's had at Microsoft and the people he's worked with over the years.
In terms of Asha though, Moore's message is clear — he thinks she'll be "just fine", and wishes her all the luck in the world. This is an Xbox legend who helped bring the Xbox 360 to market, so he knows what he's talking about!