In a now-deleted post on social media, Shannon Loftis, formerly a director at World’s Edge and a Microsoft veteran with more than 29 years of experience in and around the company, slammed XBOX CEO Asha Sharma’s leadership style.
Loftis joined Microsoft way back in 1993, and in the years that followed, she helped to ‘evangelize’ XBOX pre-launch, was a GM at XBOX Entertainment Studios, and served briefly as a VP of Microsoft Game Studios after working as the Studio Head at World’s Edge Studios, contributing to the Age of Empires series.
‘You Are So Much More Than This’
In a post on LinkedIn, Shannon Loftis spoke about the recent XBOX layoffs that impacted folks at World’s Edge, among many other studios. She said:
Crushed to hear the news from Xbox today. I am not sure how any of these moves constitute “clarity” but for those impacted, particularly World’s Edge people – you are SO much more than this.
But before that, in a post on Threads that has now been deleted, Loftis slammed XBOX CEO Asha Sharma for what some might consider a two-faced approach to management:
Super funny that Asha Sharma said “clarity is kindness” to the WSJ last week then did a half layoff today. I guess Damocles’ Sword is a form of clarity, what do I know?
Please, Asha, publish more “cool” photos from your Japan Kojima-maxxing trip. That’s the kind of leadership game developers need.
(Thanks to Idle Sloth for the quote and the screencap/link to the original post)
Loftis was referring to images Sharma recently posted on social media as she travelled to Japan for the Tokyo Game Show and to meet Hideo Kojima at his studio in the city.
In 2022, Shannon Loftis departed World’s Edge, retiring after 29 years at Microsoft. Back then, she said:
After 29 years at Microsoft, I’ve decided to retire to spend more time with family, on my hobbies, and of course playing games. Words can’t express how much it has meant to me to be part of the Age journey over the past five plus years. It has been the greatest honor of my game development career to be part of this community — to listen to you, to play with you, and to celebrate with you.
She stated that she was leaving Age of Empires in ‘great hands’ and that the franchise would continue to grow after she’d departed the firm.
In the first round of XBOX layoffs, which landed in July, Loftis was vocal in supporting her former coworkers:
My heart is with my friends and former coworkers at Xbox today. Your worth is not defined by your job, and you have resources to help you move forward. You are not alone.
Do you think Loftis is right to complain about Asha Sharma’s social media presence? Let us know your thoughts on the Insider Gaming Discord server.
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Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
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