Asha Sharma wants gaming to return to the Xbox name
Microsoft is reportedly dropping the Microsoft Gaming name and returning to Xbox as the identity for its gaming division. According to The Verge, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma told employees during an internal town hall that “Xbox needs to be our identity,” ending a brand name Microsoft introduced in 2022 around the Activision Blizzard deal.
Sources familiar with the meeting tell me that Sharma announced that Microsoft is returning to using Xbox for its gaming division, instead of Microsoft Gaming. “Xbox needs to be our identity,” said Sharma, noting that Microsoft Gaming was a departure from that.
— Tom Warren, The Verge
Recently, Microsoft cut Xbox Game Pass pricing , and also confirmed that future Call of Duty games will no longer launch into the service on day one. The price change was part of a broader shift under Sharma after the leadership change earlier this year.
The Verge now reports that Microsoft has started using “ return of Xbox ” messaging inside its offices, alongside slogans such as “ great games ” and “future of play.” Xbox’s new CEO, had already begun reshaping the business and was reviewing major Xbox decisions soon after taking over.
Microsoft Gaming was established in 2022, Source: Microsoft
The move would reverse a four-year branding shift that tried to present Microsoft’s games business as a broader platform spanning console, PC, mobile, and cloud. It also follows other recent Xbox course corrections.
I’m not sure what to make of the recent Xbox changes. Asha has definitely been busy, and hopefully the changes she is pushing through will lead to something better for gamers in the end. Pity I already sold all my Xbox consoles. Ah, for Helix we wait, I guess.
Source: The Verge
