Microsoft‘s Xbox is in the midst of a major shakeup as longtime boss Phil Spencer is retiring, replaced by Asha Sharma. She’s known to tech enthusiasts as the President of Microsoft Core AI. Meanwhile, Sarah Bond, who had long been penciled in by fans and analysts as Spencer’s obvious replacement, is resigning from Microsoft. Finally, Matt Booty, a former Rare exec who rose to his position as head of Xbox Game Studios, is getting promoted to Chief Content Officer at Xbox. The news was first reported by IGN.
Phil Spencer is a long-time Microsoft employee, having started out as an intern in 1988. When Microsoft branched out into video games with the 2001 launch of the original Xbox, Spencer was there. Due to his numerous appearances at events like E3, Spencer is known to video game players as the de facto face of Xbox. His focus on ‘gamers first’ initiatives like cross-platform play and Game Pass was a breath of fresh air, unlike initiatives like Kinect and the disappointing launch of the Xbox One during the Don Mattrick days. He’ll be staying on at Microsoft in an “advisor” role to Sharma through the summer, to help with the transition period.
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The time is right for a rejiggering at Xbox. After the glory days of the Xbox 360, the company has never been able to bounce back from the relative failure of the Xbox One. While the Xbox Series X/S was innovative for allowing players to choose between a “starter” system and a pricier model with better specs, it didn’t really pay off for them in the long run, with sales of both modern Xbox systems lagging far behind their competitors, the PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch.
Meanwhile, the Game Pass program started out strongly, a veritable “Netflix for Games” that featured Xbox exclusive titles, like Halo Infinite, Starfield, and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, playable on Day 1 at no additional cost. However, as the years went on, Game Pass got more and more expensive. As of this writing, Game Pass Ultimate costs $30 a month, which is, frankly, a bit too much for most players, unless Xbox is their only system. It doesn’t compare well against Nintendo’s most expensive online subscription, Nintendo Online + Expansion Pack, which costs $50 a year, and PlayStation Plus Premium, which costs $17.99 a month or $159.99 annually.
So, what does the future hold for Xbox? It’s tough to know for sure, but some analysts predict we’ll get a new console in 2028 or so, while others believe Xbox will lean more into Cloud streaming to enhance console gaming experiences, something that’s been promised since the early days of the Xbox One but never really came to fruition, save for the “Play Anywhere” streaming initiative, for those with really strong WiFi.
As of now, the ball is in Asha Sharma’s court. The immediate fear is that she’s an AI spokesperson and will bring Microsoft’s Core AI sensibilities over to Xbox, though savvy consumers currently see AI as little more than 21st-century snake oil that wrecks the environment and scrapes the internet to regurgitate archived art into gaudy slop. I’m willing to give her the benefit of the doubt and allow her the chance to lead Xbox into its next generation, whatever that may entail.