We Are Xbox: Microsoft's New Gaming Direction
Asha Sharma and Matt Booty have charted the course forward
The first few months of 2026 have been decidedly eventful for Xbox. In February, Microsoft's gaming division saw the departure of its long-time head, Phil Spencer, who left the company after 38 years of distinguished service along with Sarah Bond: they were replaced by Asha Sharma and Matt Booty, respectively. In early March, Xbox announced Project Helix, the next generation of consoles: Finally, a few days ago, the philosophy behind Game Pass was revised. But the changes aren't over yet.
We Are Xbox
The Xbox blog published a letter from Sharma and Booty addressed to all employees, a message titled "We Are Xbox". The two executives retrace the history of Microsoft's gaming ecosystem, starting from the release of the first console in 2001, but above all, they reflect on the future, sensing the need for change to respond to today's challenges and the growing frustration of players.
The foundation of Xbox will still be the console, while the cloud will help bring gaming to everyone. Sharma and Booty are aware that rising prices are making video games less accessible, but they want Xbox to be "affordable". Speaking of Project Helix, however, it is confirmed that it will offer top performance, which would obviously imply a not-so-light strain on the wallet…
Perhaps between the lines, one can read a reference to a dual console, like Xbox Series X and S, with two price points to satisfy both performance-demanding gamers and those who don't intend to spend a fortune. For now, however, no such statement has been made, so it remains our hypothesis. Returning to Sharma and Booty's discussion, in addition to being affordable, Xbox must be "personal", thus able to offer a flexible experience that adapts to every type of player.
We have already seen this pursuit of flexibility with the recent changes to Game Pass. Finally, the new executives want Xbox to be "open", which can be understood both in terms of the plurality of devices involved in the cloud, and the need to reach developers in every part of the globe, with an eye also on those who generate content within video games like Roblox. To evaluate the results obtained, Sharma and Booty indicate that the new North Star to follow will be the number of daily active users.