Xbox’s first chief operating officer (COO) is leaving after the new position was created just a few months ago. Helen Chiang will leave Microsoft today, according to an internal Xbox memo seen by The Verge. Chiang has been at Microsoft for 21 years, serving as head of Minecraft before being promoted to chief operating officer of Xbox in July. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma announced Chiang’s departure today in a surprisingly brief memo. “Helen Chiang leaves Microsoft today. I am grateful for her years of service and wish her the best,” Sharma said. With Chiang leaving today, his immediate responsibilities are being spread among other Xbox leaders for now, with Sharma noting that “we will share more on the COO’s leadership as plans are finalized.” It appears the COO position won’t disappear after just a few months, but it’s unclear why Chiang is leaving after such a short period in the role. At the time of Chiang’s promotion, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma described the new COO role as a first for Xbox, “with end-to-end P&L responsibility across all content, hardware, platform and services.” The position was created as part of Xbox’s big “reset.” Chiang reported directly to Sharma and was promoted to “bring together our businesses under one operating model, ensuring we make clear investment decisions, learn from our successes and failures, and take responsibility for results.” Chiang leaves amid rumors that Xbox is preparing more layoffs this month, November and January. Sharma’s sudden, brief memo, along with Chiang’s assignment of responsibilities to other Xbox leaders, makes it seem like this was not a resignation. I asked Microsoft to comment on Chiang’s departure, and the company declined to discuss the circumstances of his departure. “We don’t discuss individual personnel matters,” says Kari Pérez, vice president of communications at Xbox. “We are grateful for Helen’s years of service and wish her the best.”
