Xbox’s first chief operating officer is out after just a few months

Xbox’s first chief operating officer (COO) is leaving after the new role was created just a few months ago. Helen Chiang is leaving Microsoft today, according to an internal Xbox memo seen by The Verge. Chiang has been at Microsoft for 21 years, serving as the head of Minecraft before being promoted to Xbox chief operating officer in July.

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma announced Chiang’s departure in a surprisingly short memo today. “Helen Chiang is leaving Microsoft today. I’m grateful for her years of service and wish her well,” said Sharma. As Chiang is departing today, her immediate responsibilities are being split up between other Xbox leaders for now, and Sharma notes that “We’ll share more on COO leadership as plans are finalized.”

That sounds like the COO position isn’t going away after just a few months, but it’s not clear why Chiang is departing after such a short stint in the role. At the time of Chiang’s promotion, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma described the new chief operating officer role as a first for Xbox, “with end-to-end P&L responsibility across content, hardware, platform, and services.” The role was created as part of Xbox’s big “reset.”

Chiang reported directly to Sharma, and was promoted to “bring our businesses together under one operating model, making sure we make clear investment decisions, learn from our successes and failures, and hold ourselves accountable for results.”

Chiang departs amid rumors that Xbox is preparing more layoffs this month, in November, and January. The sudden and short memo from Sharma, coupled with Chiang’s responsibilities being assigned to other Xbox leaders, makes it seem like this wasn’t a resignation.

I asked Microsoft to comment on Chiang’s departure, and the company refused to discuss the circumstances of her exit. “We don’t discuss individual personnel matters,” says Kari Perez, Xbox vice president of communications. “We’re grateful for Helen’s years of service and wish her well.”