Xbox has ‘started to return to growth’ in first-party following an ‘all-time low’, CEO Asha Sharma reportedly tells staff
The previous strategy was leading to “freefall” financial declines, she said
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has reportedly told staff that the company has “started to return to growth” in its first-party games sector.
Sharma held an internal town hall with Xbox employees on Tuesday, and Windows Central reports that she updated staff on the status of the company’s ongoing ‘reset’, which has already seen numerous layoffs and the closure, release or restructuring of a number of studios.
According to the report, Sharma told staff that Xbox was declining in hours spent, players and revenue at the start of the year, but has now stabilised in terms of hours spent.
She also stated that after declines year-over-year in the first-party games sector, the company has now returned back to growth in this area, telling staff that it was now “more than two to three times what we were”, though what this entails in actual numbers doesn’t appear to have been confirmed.
“We’re making the right decisions to reinvest in the business,” she reportedly said, “after an all time low, we’ve started to return to growth, more than two to three times what we were, and we expect that continue”.
Sharma is said to have cited Gears of War: E-Day, Minecraft Dungeons 2 and World of Warcraft Forever, saying they had “strong” starts, and claimed that Xbox had seen a 30% increase in positive brand sentiments in the past year.
The report says Sharma also told staff that the previous Game Pass strategy had sent Xbox into “freefall” declines, but also suggested that Game Pass may get more “flexible for more players” in the future.
“Why do we exist?” Sharma reportedly said to staff. “We exist to be where the world plays, we will know when we have a billion daily active people, and we have a right to win because we’re now focused on our fans and franchises.”
In July, Microsoft enacted sweeping layoffs across the Xbox business as part of a widespread ‘reset’, initially affecting 1,600 jobs. Last month Xbox enacted the second wave of these planned cuts, leading to a further 268 layoffs.
It also announced that Rare, World’s Edge and the Halo franchise were moving to Activision, that Obsidian Entertainment was being rolled into Bethesda, and that Forza Motorsport studio Turn 10 and Forza Horizon studio Playground Games were merging, while Ninja Theory was likely to close.
