Xbox executives, Asha Sharma and Matt Booty, want Xbox to be associated with affordability and personality.
In 2026, Xbox is undergoing a transformation. On February 20, the company underwent a major restructuring that led to Phil Spencer’s retirement. Sarah Bond, the former president of Xbox, also stepped down. In their place, Asha Sharma was appointed as the new Executive Vice President and CEO of Microsoft Gaming.
Now, two months later, Sharma announced the company was moving away from the Microsoft Gaming branding to bring back the full Xbox brand.
Xbox Will Be Built to Be Affordable, Says Execs
The mission statement, credited to both Asha Sharma and Matt Booty, outlines the brand’s core values going forward. During a time of financial uncertainty, Xbox has declared that its future, rooted in the success of its upcoming console, Project Helix, will be built around affordability and player choice.
“Xbox will be built to be affordable, personal, and open. We will offer flexible pricing so it’s easy to get started and keep playing. The experience will adapt to you, letting you customize how you play, helping you find what you’ll love, and connecting you with the right people. And we will be open to all creators, from individuals to the largest studios, giving anyone the tools to reach a global audience and keep their games growing over time,” the statement reads.
The rising cost of game development and gaming hardware has been a large topic of discussion lately. Numerous development studios have faced major layoffs, and it is even rumored that the next PlayStation console could be on hold until at least 2029.
These rising costs are addressed in the statement, with Booty and Sharma touting that their players have more access to games than ever, and the growing financial stake puts pressure on what gets made and how certain risks are calculated.
“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,” they say.
Speaking of subscriptions, Sharma recently lowered the price of the highest-tier Xbox Game Pass subscription. Learn more about that choice here.
What are your thoughts on the future of Xbox? Sound off in our official Discord server. Also, don’t forget to sign up for our weekly newsletter.
Pricing is important but the brand is way beyond damaged. She needs to do work and stay off social media reccent moves are a good step but after 2 bad generations I don’t see how you can repair this. Games really need to improve also branding go with the Y2K branding the old logo also the edgy dude bro console brand.
I get what you are saying, “the brand has had two bad gens in a row, there is no saving Xbox”. But I really dont think that is entirely true… PlayStation may have sold a hundred million consoles by the end of this generation, but I feel like they have had a pretty shit generation too. Not Xbox bad, but the amount of profit they have made compared to how much revenue is crazy. They have canceled more games and closed more studios than any other generation before… And that includes some major financial F ups.
If Xbox does this right, they could certainly make a come back. Hey at least this time they have games! Couldnt say that going into this generation haha.
My one big thing that this article states that has me wondering… Xbox wants to be know n as affordable going forward… But they are about to put out a console that costs at minimum a thousand bucks.
I do know that OEM Xbox consoles are still on the table and I very much expect that to be what is going to be the affordable options for next gen for people. But that needs to be down well, I sincerely hope they figure that all out and do have options for people of all price ranges.
That could be a huge win right there… The Series S got way too much shit this generation, if you actually ever played on one, they arent bad at all. I have one as an emulation device in my office that is amazing for that. But yeah, if Xbox comes out at a thousands bucks for the Helix… and the PS6 id like900 to a 1000 bucks… just having lower priced options will mean a lot more… much more than just a 300 dollar option compared to 500 like it was at the start of the gen.