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Today was the day, and XBOX head Asha Sharma unleashed a tidal wave of moves. Thing is, they weren’t what we assumed they’d be.
A new era
For a while now, really since the new XBOX honcho Asha Sharma took over for the outgoing Phil Spencer, we’ve been waiting for the axe to fall. If you’re wondering what axe that would be, it’d be mass cuts to XBOX teams. That and development house closures.
The reason those were widely thought to be oncoming, is pretty simple too. It was even (more or less) laid out by Sharma, who reiterated today that the business “is not healthy.” No one could argue that, not even the most strident of XBOX faithful, as Microsoft’s gaming wing has seen its base dwindle over the years.
That’s been due to a few things, as we see them. But the biggest might be that XBOX was highly interested in the idea of going multiplatform, while somehow still holding a platform. We don’t mean just going all-in on the PC either. First party XBOX titles were and are appearing on the likes of the PS5 and Switch, and that didn’t sit well with core fans.
As a response, and in one of her first moves to stabilize the company, Sharma took the upcoming Gears of War: E-Day and made it a console exclusive. There was even a rumor (which we can’t confirm) that pulling the upcoming Halo: Campaign Evolved and Fable from PlayStation was attempted, but it was effectively too late to do so. Whether the latter is true or not, console exclusives becoming a thing again, was just one of a series of other moves, which all seemed to take direct fan feedback into consideration. It’s all made for one heck of an introduction.
But even so, more moves are forthcoming, and those were discussed today.
XBOX restructures
What came earlier today was a fair shake rougher than just talking about console exclusivity. Namely, we saw a letter issued from Sharma to “all employees at XBOX”. And yes, it was about staffing cuts. As mentioned above though, those weren’t exactly what we thought they’d be.
First, yes, XBOX is shedding studios, but it will be taking a multi-layered approach. This will see the likes of Compulsion Games and Double Fine Productions go indie once again. Ninja Theory and Undead Labs on the other hand, will be getting new ownership, and Arkane France is apparently mulling options. As it stands right now though, XBOX hasn’t cancelled any games whatsoever.
So what’s the bad news? There are still job losses, and those are (and will be) heavy. According to Sharma, “1,600 role eliminations” have taken place just today, and there’ll be a total of around “3,200 throughout FY27”. To pair with that, she outlined in surprising detail just what XBOX has gone through as a brand over the last few years.
It strikes this writer, just for example, that the managerial staff had 14 layers to it. Not only that, but the team itself has reportedly ballooned up 40% over what it was at the start of just this current generation. Then there’s the statement that “in a typical year” XBOX has lost 64 cents for every dollar that it invested. That’s just absolutely wild.
That’s also not it, as there’s quite a bit more to the full statement, all of which was released publicly via X. You can check that out via the link below (or right here).
Getting back to business?
So will all of this make a dent and stabilize XBOX? That’s really the question, and we certainly hope the answer is to the affirmative. Looking at it critically, the above moves are sure to have some effect on the business as a whole. They kind of have to. Will that impact be substantial enough to restore the brand though? Again, we hope so.
There’s reason for some optimism though, as Sharma is clearly pretty hands-on. And in this case, that looks like a net positive. And with a full year of restructuring, refocusing, and cost-saving moves ahead, we’re sure there’s much more to come on this story.
When and if there’s more to report on XBOX‘ inner-dealings, we’ll keep you updated.
