“Return to Xbox” New Head of Xbox Commits to the Console Experience

In late February, Microsoft held its first all-hands meeting since the company restructured its Xbox gaming segment. During the meeting, new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma doubled down on her previous commitments to steering Microsoft Gaming in a console-first direction. This is a notable change from the company’s prior “everything is an Xbox” strategy, which began under previous Xbox leadership that pivoted the company away from Xbox hardware toward Cloud and subscription gaming.

It’s been a momentous few weeks for Xbox. On February 20, Microsoft announced that Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer would be retiring and that President of Xbox Sarah Bond would also be stepping down from her role. Spencer had led Microsoft Gaming for 12 years after being named head of Xbox in 2014. He took over following the launch of the Xbox One. Under his leadership, Xbox moved away from a hardware-first strategy to a more subscription-based one. Spencer ushered in Game Pass and numerous major acquisitions, including Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Along with Bond, Spencer pushed the “everything is an Xbox” strategy. Many believed the leadership role would pass from Spencer to Bond, but in an unexpected turn of events, Microsoft opted to give the CEO title to Sharma, the former President of Microsoft’s CoreAI Product group. The Microsoft Gaming leadership change marks the end of an era for Xbox.

Under New Microsoft Gaming CEO Asha Sharma, Microsoft is Putting the Xbox Console First Again

During the first all-hands meeting after the leadership change, Sharma reaffirmed her official statements that she made when Microsoft announced that Sharma would be stepping into the role of Microsoft Gaming CEO. In a transcript obtained by Windows Central, during her internal introduction to Microsoft employees, Sharma stressed her plans to support Xbox studios to make excellent games, putting the Xbox console first once again, and meeting players where they are. She also indicated she was open to re-thinking some of Xbox’s recent decisions.

“I have three commitments that I laid out. We will deliver great games. Everything is downstream of great games, that means empowering studios to do our best work. The second thing is the ‘return to Xbox,’ we are going to start with console, and make sure that we understand that this is our reference experience. We will meet players where they are, and build experiences that are instant and seamless and accessible. And third, we are living through an unprecedented era of change. We will build for the future of play,” Sharma said during the all-hands meeting.

It’s not the first time Sharma has stressed getting Xbox back to its roots. In her first interview after being appointed as Microsoft Gaming lead, she confirmed that she wanted to get back to Xbox being hardware first. In Microsoft’s second quarter earnings, the company revealed that hardware sales were down 25%. Lower hardware sales could be related to Microsoft’s recent lack of emphasis on console exclusivity, as the company has allowed its historically exclusive franchises like Fable, Halo, Forza, and Gears of War to appear on PlayStation.

Image via Playground Games/Xbox

Players have expressed sentiment that Xbox has lost its brand identity since its “everything is an Xbox” strategy, and therefore hasn’t given consumers a reason to buy Xbox hardware. However, Sharma has addressed these concerns, too, albeit succinctly. When a fan expressed their feelings that first-party Xbox games should remain exclusive, Sharma responded that she hears their criticism. Going from her recent statements at the company’s all-hands, it seems like she might be taking what the community has been saying in recent years to heart.

Former Xbox President Sarah Bond and former Xbox CEO Phil Spencer were driving forces behind Xbox’s lack of exclusivity. From Sharma’s recent comments, it sounds like she’s trying to reaffirm to both players and Microsoft employees that she wants to make Xbox feel like a distinct platform again. While exclusivity isn’t always a good thing, it can contribute to greater diversity in gaming and provide players with more choices regarding how they want to experience their games. In her closing remarks, Sharma said she was looking ahead to Xbox’s next 25 years, and that she was excited about the upcoming Game Developers Conference (GDC), which takes place March 9 to March 13. That means there could be more news about Xbox’s plans for exclusivity and hardware in the coming weeks.

Brand

Microsoft

Original Release Date

November 10, 2020

Original MSRP (USD)

$499

Operating System

Proprietary (Windows-based)

Processor

Custom AMD 8-core Zen 2 3.8 GHz

Resolution

720p – 4K UHD