Under new leadership and the motto “We are Xbox”, Microsoft wants to attack the top again with its video games division. Following adjustments to the Game Pass, a strategic course correction and an old name should help with this.
“We have work to do” is one of the key statements that Asha Sharma and Matt Booty addressed to Microsoft Gaming employees on Thursday. In an email to all employees of the video games division, the new dual leadership laid out their plan to reinvigorate the Xbox brand – and did not shy away from addressing shortcomings.
In the letter, for example, the duo openly admits that “gamers are frustrated”. Several factors are decisive for this. For example, the slow pace of new console features, a weak presence on the PC and constantly rising prices that customers could hardly or did not want to keep up with. Microsoft has already taken this as an opportunity to reduce the cost of some Game Pass variants.
Where it says Xbox, it should be Xbox
However, Booty and Sharma, who was harshly criticized in advance for her AI past, do not only want to lead Microsoft’s video game division back to its former strength financially. The two main managers have set themselves a general course correction with one motto at the center: “We are Xbox”. Which is why Microsoft Gaming is to become just that again in future: Xbox.
“Microsoft Gaming describes our structure, but not our ambition,” says the management team about the name change, which, however, means more. Xbox should also return to its roots in terms of content, bring players together and deliver “a premium experience”, with its own console forming “the foundation”. Which is why the upcoming version, Project Helix, should be “leading in performance”.
In addition, the dual leadership has committed to becoming more accessible: “Xbox is being built to be affordable, personal and open.” A plan that is also explicitly aimed at developers who have long wanted better tools, insights and programming platforms. “We will be open to all creators, from individuals to the biggest studios,” outlines the Mail.
In order to achieve the ambitious goals, it was important for Sharma and Booty to make the status quo clear. “We need to be honest about where we are. We are a challenger,” they say surprisingly openly about the role the new old Xbox wants to take on with ten gaming bids:
Fight for every player
Protect our art
Stay uncomfortable
Progress beats perfection
Substance before production
Core first, then more
Overcome problems with work
Pace creates insight
Maker before manager
Clarity is kindness
Along these maxims, Xbox wants to find its old strength and measure itself against a new metric: daily active players. Booty and Sharma declared this value to be the future “pole star” of Microsoft’s gaming efforts – and want to maximize it through ongoing improvements in the areas of hardware, content, experience and service. A “reassessment of our approach to exclusivity” is also to take place. Which would put Microsoft in line with its big rival Sony.