In the wake of yet another round of layoffs at Xbox, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has made an official statement on the future of the company’s gaming division. Speaking on a podcast, Nadella states he feels “fantastic” about Xbox’s current IP lineup, and says the streamlining Asha Sharma is doing is “great to see.”
Joining Microsoft in 1992, Satya Nadella has worked on an assortment of different high-profile projects at the American tech company, with some of his most renowned work coming from his time leading Microsoft’s push into Cloud services. Nadella became Microsoft’s third ever CEO in 2014 following Steve Ballmer’s retirement from the position. In the same year, Nadella oversaw the acquisition of Mojang, the Swedish studio behind Minecraft.
Microsoft CEO Says Xbox Streamlining is ‘Great to See’
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Image via Sources Podcast -
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Image via Halo Studios
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was recently interviewed by Alex Heath for the Sources Podcast. The bulk of the 53-minute-long interview was dedicated to discussing Microsoft’s Copilot system, the company’s ongoing AI usage, and the CEO’s personal thoughts on the need for AI regulation. In a brief section towards the end of the interview (at the 47-minute mark), Nadella is questioned about the current state of Xbox and its ongoing 2026 “reset.”
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Upon being asked about Xbox’s current transformation and what the CEO sees coming for Microsoft’s gaming division, Nadella states that gaming is part of the company’s “core DNA” in his opinion, and that he feels “fantastic” about the IP Xbox has right now. Nadella then mentions that there’s a “certain amount of streamlining” that Xbox CEO Asha Sharma is doing, referring to the ongoing layoffs that are set to affect 3,200 Xbox employees by the end of the fiscal year, something that Nadella says is “great to see.”
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In the same breath, Nadella says that Xbox needs to “invent the right sustainable business model” that will allow it to deliver gaming to “more and more people,” which the Microsoft CEO says has always been the company’s primary goal. Nadella’s final statement regarding Xbox is that “in the process” of Xbox returning to growth by the next fiscal year, he hopes that the publisher will “do a bang-up job of producing some great games.”
This Satya Nadella-focused episode of the Sources Podcast was published on September 25, just three days after Xbox Chief Content Officer Matt Booty publicly announced the second wave of layoffs to hit Xbox this year. In this most recent round, a total of 268 Xbox employees lost their jobs, with Halo Studios reportedly taking the brunt of the damage as the Halo IP moves over to Activision’s control. Age of Empires studio World’s Edge was also affected by these layoffs, with the studio’s creative director and other members of leadership being laid off, and the studio’s next project being canceled. Hellblade studio Ninja Theory is also facing closure now, with two ownership deals reportedly falling through in recent months.
