The head of Microsoft’s gaming division, Asha Sharma, and the content director, Matt Booty, published a statement detailing plans for the future development of their team.
- Top executives acknowledged that in recent years, Microsoft has disappointed many gamers, developers, and publishers. Partly, the issue is that new features on consoles have been slow to appear, and the company’s games have a weak presence in the PC market. To regain trust, the gaming division has decided to revamp its business strategy.
- To begin with, it will change its name. Instead of Microsoft Gaming, the division will be called Xbox again — as a nod to “returning to its roots.”
- Microsoft sees that the gaming industry is becoming increasingly global and competitive. Therefore, the corporation aims to create a platform “that unites gamers and developers worldwide” — centered around the console, but, thanks to cloud gaming, games can be played on any device. The platform is intended to be open, flexible, and accessible.
- According to Sharma and Booty, Xbox will develop in four directions: hardware, content, user experience, and services. The new focus for the team will be the metric “daily active audience” (DAU).
- Future plans include releasing a high-performance console capable of running games for Xbox and PC (Project Helix), increasing work with beloved player franchises, developing service games and games with UGC options like Minecraft, as well as expanding presence in China and on mobile devices.
- Moreover, Xbox does not rule out acquiring new studios “to accelerate growth where organic rates are too slow.”
- Additionally, Xbox executives promised to reevaluate their approach to exclusive games and the use of artificial intelligence, but provided no specifics.