Xbox’s new direction is showing more of its hand in how it looks to support Microsoft’s gaming brand. In a publicly published internal “We are Xbox” memo to Team Xbox employees worldwide in an Xbox Wire post, Xbox’s new CEO Asha Sharma and Xbox’s CCO Matt Booty have detailed its plans to rebuild its trust with its community as it redefines that “Xbox will be where the world plays and creates. “
The memo doesn’t try to talk in circles about the problems the brand is facing and straight up acknowledges that “players are frustrated,” as well as other shortcomings, like their presence on PC isn’t strong enough, pricing, and the core Xbox experience services feeling “too fragmented.”
With a new generation of players coming into the space that Microsoft has squarely planted its feet in the past 25 years, recently those on Xbox have come in with different expectations as gaming feels more like competition to get your attention with that time as it is being divided between not just through games, but other avenues like media, social media, and more, Xbox’s leadership says that players now more than ever strive for more content in familiar places while wanting to shape the worlds they play in, and want to create and socialize together, not just play together.
“These changes are happening as the industry reshapes around us. Console remains large and stable. Windows now represents more players and more hours and is increasingly where competition is most intense. Players have access to more games than ever, even as the cost and time to build blockbuster titles continues to rise, putting pressure on what gets made and how risk is taken. Some of the biggest recent hits are coming from small teams or even single creators, and places like Roblox are producing experiences that rival major franchises in scale,” Asha and Matt said in a joint statement in the Xbox Wire post.
“More players are also choosing subscriptions and services as their primary way to play, with expectations set around instant access, ongoing value, and libraries that evolve continuously. The industry is becoming global and competitive. More than half of the market’s revenue, players, and growth are happening outside of our core markets. But the rest of the world is not just a large market. Developers there are increasingly competing with the most established Western studios, combining scale, speed, and a willingness to reinvent genres many once considered mature.”
Xbox is looking to build a platform that connects players and creators everywhere, but intends to make the console its very foundation, delivering a premium experience with the cloud so players can continue their progress on other devices. While things change regarding who is in charge of Xbox, it seems that PC, consoles, mobile, and cloud will remain a core part of Xbox, as Xbox says it’s striving to build a platform that’s “affordable, personal, and open” while improving its daily active players. To do this, Xbox is focusing on four pillars – hardware, content, experience, and services that are broken down below.
- Hardware:
- Stabilize Gen9 as a healthy and high-quality base
- Deliver Project Helix to lead in performance and play your console and PC games
- Lead in comfortable, personal, high-performance accessories
- Build a strong ecosystem that expands choice and reach
- Content:
- Grow and extend an enduring portfolio of franchises players love
- Evolve our 3P partnerships and strengthen our 5-year slate
- Expand into China, emerging markets, and mobile-first audiences
- Maintain and grow in live games and long-term stewardship
- Elevate creator-centric platforms like Minecraft, The Elder Scrolls, and Sea of Thieves
- Experience:
- Fix the fundamentals for players and partners
- Make Xbox the best place for developers and creators to build and grow
- Overhaul discovery, customization, social and personalization to connect the community
- Services:
- Fortify Game Pass with clear differentiation and sustainable economics
- Return the business to durable growth with strong cost discipline
- Make cloud play feel native, fast, and reliable across TVs and low-cost devices
- Use M&A deliberately to accelerate growth where organic paths are too slow
As part of this, the team says it will reevaluate its approach to exclusivity, windowing, and AI, which will be decided as it learns and finalizes those decisions. One other thing that has been decided is that it’s doubling down on the Xbox brand as the team’s name, as the gaming division distances itself from the “Microsoft Gaming” moniker.
With that and this week’s Game Pass price drop, are just the first steps to bring the feeling back that Xbox once gave players. Asha and Matt say rather than smoothing over differences, they’re looking to connect everyone into something greater than any one studio or product. In order to get that done, they have laid out a basic list of their ten-part approach
- Earn every player
- Protect our art
- Stay rebellious
- Progress over perfection
- Signal over ceremony
- Core before more
- Outwork the problem
- Speed is learning
- Makers over managers
- Clarity is kindness
“We have to be honest about where we are. We’re a challenger, and meeting this moment will require pace, energy, and a level of self-critique that should feel uncomfortable. Over the last five years, Xbox and the industry have been through an unimaginable amount of change, and this team has continued to deliver through it for our community. Thank you for staying focused on what matters. 62 days in, we’re proud of how we’ve honored our commitments of great games, return of Xbox, and future of play. We’re here to do the most creative and courageous work of our lives, and that’s what we’ll do together,” Asha and Matt said at the end of the Xbox Wire post.
