Xbox CEO Officially Responds to Xbox Sale Rumors

In a tumultuous year for the Xbox division, in which thousands of employees are being laid off and Xbox Game Studios is being broken up, the new CEO of Microsoft’s gaming group is resolute on one thing: Despite rumors and speculation to the contrary, Xbox is not for sale. The company has slimmed down its portfolio this year, divesting from four studios and canceling projects.

In a new profile on Xbox CEO Asha Sharma in The New York Times, Sharma pushed back on the narrative that Microsoft’s “reset,” which has resulted in hundreds of job losses and studios shifting across the company’s owned publishers, implies that it’s getting out of the games business.

“We’ve got a long way to go with Microsoft,” Sharma told the Times, “and we’re going to take the long-term view.”

Sharma replaced former Xbox head Phil Spencer in February and has been making sweeping changes since. “I think the industry will require disruption,” Sharma said in messaging that feels starkly different from the Spencer era of Xbox. Under Sharma, the Xbox team has lowered Game Pass prices amid flailing subscriber numbers and removed an expensive offering: New Call of Duty games will no longer be offered on day one under the plan. New, more radical changes to Xbox Game Pass are rumored and Microsoft has recently put time limits on cloud gaming for subscribers to the service.

Xbox is staying at Microsoft

Image: 343 Industries/Xbox Game Studios

In response to reports that Microsoft may spin off or sell the Xbox brand, Sharma is adamant. “Xbox is not for sale,” Sharma said. “We will do whatever it takes to set the company up for success, and we will look at the right partnerships, the right operating model and everything needed to achieve that.”

Xbox revealed one of those new partnerships recently, confirming a deal with Kojima Productions to publish the Metal Gear Solid spiritual successor, Physint. In the Times’ profile, the agreement with Kojima Productions — after Sony dropped its game — “was substantially below what Xbox would typically spend to develop a premium game” and includes TV and film rights to the Physint IP.

While Sharma and company appear to have some runway to figure out the right operating model for Xbox, there are still hundreds of additional layoffs planned at the company and the impending launch of Project Helix, the next-generation Xbox. Whatever plan the Xbox group has now could change at any time.