Xbox CEO outlines hard choices for stronger brand

Xbox leader Asha Sharma told staff in a memo that the company must make hard choices to build a stronger XBOX. The update follows a recent Game Pass price reduction that has improved subscriber growth.

In the memo shared with staff, Sharma wrote that growth slowed and subscriber loss accelerated after last year's pricing changes. Since the price reduction on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate from £23 to £17 a month and on PC Game Pass from £13.50 to £11, acquisitions have grown and retention has improved, she said. New Call of Duty titles will no longer launch day one on the service.

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Illustration of Microsoft Xbox layoffs showing office workers packing boxes
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Microsoft cuts 4,800 jobs amid Xbox restructuring

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Microsoft announced major layoffs across its gaming division and other units on July 6, 2026. The cuts total 4,800 positions, or 2.1 percent of the global workforce. Xbox is divesting several studios as part of the reset.

Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass has seen its subscriber count drop to 30 million, well short of internal targets. The decline comes after a significant price increase last year that prompted millions to cancel. New Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has addressed the issues in recent staff communications.

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Xbox Game Pass lost millions of subscribers following a 50 percent price increase in fall 2025. The admission came from Chief Strategy Officer Matthew Ball during an interview at Summer Game Fest.

Recent sales figures for Black Ops 7 have contributed to declining software revenue at Xbox, prompting new leadership to signal upcoming changes. Executives have linked the results to broader platform challenges following the Activision Blizzard acquisition.

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Xbox's new chief executive Asha Sharma plans to speed up development of major franchises such as Halo and Fallout. Resources will be shifted from lower-performing areas while overall budgets stay flat. Microsoft leaders have approved the changes for the coming fiscal year.

Xbox executives have clarified the company's approach to console exclusives following announcements at the Summer Game Fest.

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Shawn Layden, who oversaw PlayStation Studios until 2019, said Microsoft must choose between becoming the world's largest game publisher or a competitive console platform. He argued the two paths cannot converge.

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