If all of last week felt like waiting for the other shoe to drop at Xbox, today feels like wading through the rubble from a 7.0 magnitude earthquake. Microsoft's gaming division is officially undergoing its largest restructuring ever, which will result in the loss of 3,200 jobs by the end of the 2027 fiscal year. 1,600 of those cuts happened today to kick off what CEO Asha Sharma has been calling a "reset" for the brand.
It's been apparent to anyone watching that Xbox has been navigating an identity crisis for years now following an acquisition blitz and several subsequent restructurings, culminating in the dramatic departure of longtime Xbox boss Phil Spencer and president Sarah Bond. In the months since Sharma, who was previously president of Microsoft's CoreAI product, was announced as Spencer's successor, she's been frank about Xbox's struggles and has warned of an impending mass company reset. Today, that plan was unveiled in a company email shared to Sharma's official Twitter account.
