Helen Chiang, a Microsoft veteran who was head of Minecraft before transitioning to Xbox Chief Operating Officer (COO), has left the company after 21 years.
The Verge (paywalled) obtained a copy of an internal memo sent by Xbox CEO Asha Sharma announcing Chiang's departure, and as the publication notes, it's surprisingly brief for such a high-profile change in leadership. "Helen Chiang is leaving Microsoft today. I'm grateful for her years of service and wish her well," said Sharma. The memo reportedly notes that Chiang's job responsibilities will be broken up between other Xbox leaders until a new COO is appointed. "We'll share more on COO leadership as plans are finalized," Sharma told employees.
Chiang joined Microsoft in 2005 as a product manager for the company's now-defunct Streets & Trips mapping software and joined Xbox as business manager in 2007. She joined the Minecraft team as senior director in 2014 and made her way up to studio head and then corporate vice president of the Minecraft franchise in 2020. In July 2026, when Sharma announced her big Xbox "reset," Chiang was appointed as the very first Xbox COO, a role that was created as part of Sharma's broader plans for the brand.
Although hundreds of jobs have already been lost as part of the Xbox reset, Xbox has said a total of 3,200 jobs will ultimately be cut by the end of the 2027 fiscal year. A recent report from Fortune claims the company is planning three waves of layoffs between now and January 2027, which would follow two major waves that have already happened since July when the reset was announced.
