Xbox CEO Asha Sharma is taking an unusual approach to understanding the problems facing players, reportedly spending several hours every month personally responding to Xbox customer support tickets.

The detail comes from a new Wall Street Journal profile examining Sharma’s leadership and her efforts to reshape Xbox following a turbulent period for Microsoft’s gaming business.

Xbox CEO Is Talking Directly With Players

According to the report, Sharma dedicates a few hours each month to working through actual customer support cases in an effort to better understand the problems Xbox players encounter.

“To better understand players, she spends a few hours each month responding to customer support tickets, during which she’s learned how complex it can be to fix a single player’s problem.”

The practice gives Sharma direct exposure to issues that would normally remain several levels removed from the company’s CEO.

It also fits with her broader approach to running Xbox, including an emphasis on transparency and what she describes as “clarity is kindness.”

Sharma Continues to Reshape Xbox

Since taking over Xbox, Sharma has already overseen several notable changes to Microsoft’s gaming business.

The Wall Street Journal highlighted the removal of a widely disliked Xbox AI assistant and changes designed to make it easier for owners of supported physical games to receive digital entitlements.

Her leadership has also included changes to Xbox Game Pass and a broader effort to rebuild trust in the Xbox brand following layoffs and other major changes across Microsoft’s gaming division.

Personally answering customer support tickets won’t solve Xbox’s larger challenges on its own, but it offers an unusual look at how its CEO is trying to understand the experience of players directly rather than relying entirely on internal reports and statistics.