Xbox CEO Asha Sharma posted on X yesterday, confirming that Xbox Gaming Copilot is being wound down on mobile and cancelled entirely for consoles. This was a feature that only debuted at GDC in March 2025 and never made it out of beta before being axed. Alongside the Copilot news, Sharma revealed a sweeping leadership overhaul, promoting those who helped build Xbox, while also bringing in new voices to help push Microsoft and the Xbox identity further.
The post was pretty brief and direct, stating that “Xbox needs to move faster, deepen our connection with the community, and address friction for both players and developers.” An internal memo seen by CNBC went further, however, with Sharma stating:
“Right now, it is too hard to ship impact quickly. We spend too much time inward instead of with the community, and we lack the depth we need in some of the fundamentals.”
The End of Gaming Copilot
Gaming Copilot launched in beta on the Xbox Mobile and PC apps and later on the ROG Xbox Ally handheld; it was pitched as an AI sidekick that could offer gameplay tips, coaching, and recaps of your sessions. There was instant skepticism over this feature that never went away, as AI is something that the majority of people don’t agree with. People felt like this focused on something very few players actually asked for while ignoring the more important things the community has been requesting for a while, and concerns were raised about it pulling from guides and articles online without properly giving credit to the original sources. Potentially taking away from clicks to sites like the one you’re reading on right now, Lagback.
The statement didn’t address what happens to the existing beta on the Xbox PC app and ROG Xbox Ally, which leaves some ambiguity about those specific versions; however, it’s expected that in the future, those in the beta will lose access to it. What’s clear now, though, is that console development is fully stopped, and the mobile version will only be around for a short period longer. For most Xbox players, this is a non-event, as they never got the feature and only ever heard that it was being worked on to exist, but they should be noticing that this removal will be focusing the company on steering away from forcing AI into the product and toward the fundamentals.
Context: What Sharma Has Done Since February
Sharma’s been making a lot of fast-paced, aggressive moves towards winning back community support. Since taking over from Phil Spencer, she’s already cut Game Pass prices, dropped the “Microsoft Gaming” name in favour of Xbox, begun work on new Game Pass subscription tiers and partnerships with the likes of Discord, and adopted daily active players as the division’s new internal success metric.
She also hinted that more features could be on the chopping block, stating: “You’ll see us begin to retire features that don’t align with where we’re headed,” showing that this is, in a way, the rebirthing of Xbox. It’s like when someone has a “phase” growing up that they try to claim isn’t a phase, only to one day decide to completely 180 their life and think back at the past like, “god, why did I do that?”
No matter what console you play on primarily, be it a Nintendo Switch 2, a PlayStation 5, or even older devices, you have to admit the speed at which Sharma is moving is hard to argue with given what Xbox’s numbers look like right now. If anything, these changes are a great win for the consumer and a huge step forward, assuming that this speed keeps up with this type of positive attention.
