Xbox has gone through a tumultuous period these past few years, rarely enjoying a high while being burdened with many lows. But it seems like the new leadership at Microsoft Gaming — the division that runs Xbox — is pivoting to a back-to-basics approach to fix the damage. In a new open letter titled "We are Xbox," chiefs Asha Sharma and Matt Booty have announced that Microsoft Gaming is rebranding to simply Xbox.
The letter goes over the past, present, and future of Xbox, while addressing the things that went wrong. The first subsection is called "We have work to do," and goes over the lack of feature drops on console and how pricing is getting harder to keep up with. Just yesterday, Game Pass prices were slashed for some tiers, showing us what this new strategy to regain trust looks like. Previously, the "This is an Xbox" campaign was killed off to streamline the brand as well.
Now, it's a bit harsh to say that Xbox has lost trust as a whole, but the fans have certainly not been happy with how the company has seemingly given up on the console. The next-gen Project Helix device has been proof of that since it's a PC-console hybrid, bridging the gap between the two platforms and letting people play their PC games on an Xbox console that runs multiple storefronts. This is at a time when Sony is pulling its games from PC and gatekeeping them once again for PlayStation only.
Hence, the common sentiment in the community has been one of inferiority, that Xbox simply cannot compete with the likes of Sony and Nintendo when it comes to hardware and exclusives, so it's switched to this "Play Anywhere" model that sidesteps the rivals entirely. Well, the new letter doesn't exactly walk back those decisions, but it shows a bit more confidence in the brand as it begins to course correct.
"Console is at the foundation," says the memo, outlining four main objectives that the company is focusing on getting right. The first is hardware; it begins with delivering Project Helix and stabilizing the 9th generation of consoles with a healthy player base. Xbox wants to "build a strong ecosystem that expands choice and reach," while leading in performance, comfort, and personalization.
Then there's content; this is what the players will be most excited for since the letter explicitly mentions growing and extending existing franchises. That could mean finally paying attention to IP beyond just Gears, Halo, and Forza. Remember, Xbox owns both Activision Blizzard and Bethesda — two absolute behemoths of the industry — so it's about time some of that investment pays off.
Moreover, Xbox wants to "elevate creator-centric platforms" such as Minecraft, The Elder Scrolls, and Sea of Thieves, calling back to how a new generation of gamers is coming online. The console wars likely never even happened for this audience, and their attention is up for grabs by different forms of entertainment everywhere. Optimizing Xbox for them is one of the primary goals for the company's future.
Thirdly, we have experience that aims to "fix the fundamentals" for players and partners. The letter mentioned earlier mentioned how developers are increasingly looking for better tools and insights to not only make their games, but also grow them, too. Xbox is working toward becoming the best place for devs and creators since the new generation of gamers are not just consumers; they're prosumers who want to create as well. The brand will also overhaul discovery, optimization, social, and personalization to better connect with the community as part of the "experience."
Lastly, there are services, which sounds exactly like what it is. The new leadership wants to fortify Game Pass with "cost discipline," which basically means looking at the bigger picture instead of only considering short-term profit maximization. The recently cut prices are an example of this.
Cloud gaming has been a huge push from Xbox for almost a decade now, and the brand wants to continue to make it faster and more reliable, matching native fidelity, as if you were playing on the hardware in-person. As all these things are set in motion, the letter also says that Xbox will reevaluate its approach to exclusivity and AI. Those are likely two of the most polarizing topics concerning the Xbox brand, given just how insistent Microsoft has been with shoving AI everywhere.
But, hey, even the Redmont giant, too big to fail, has admitted Windows is a mess right now and vowed to fix it, so perhaps the ethos is trickling down. The letter ends with a similar admission of being in a tough place, and how "meeting this moment will require a level of self-critique that should feel uncomfortable." There are ten short taglines included at the very bottom describing what Xbox is at its very best, and we felt like the most important one out of those was: "Core before more."
