On Thursday, Xbox’s new CEO, Asha Sharma, and Chief Content Officer, Matt Booty, published an internal memo they sent to Xbox staff. The letter revealed that the “Microsoft Gaming” brand has now become – simply – “Xbox” again. Separating yourself from Microsoft is a smart play. It is the tech monolith’s last fully consumer-oriented brand. The broader Microsoft portfolio resembles a Charlie Kelly conspiracy board of government (and military), B2B and AI contracts.
Xbox’s previous leadership under Phil Spencer allowed the Xbox Series S and Series In 2026, Xbox’s new goal is to put players in seats, and that means returning to “Gen 9” consoles.
In an interview with games journalist Stephen Totilo, Sharma said, “We are investing [Xbox Series S/X] Once again a first-class experience, and we want to make sure that any players who want to be in Gen 9 are in Gen 9 with a great console with regular updates. According to Tom Warren of The Verge, these updates may come every two weeks.
Xbox head Asha Sharma also mentioned during her all-hands yesterday that teams are meeting daily on Project Helix, and there will also be biweekly Xbox Series S/X console updates by the end of the year. The reinvestment in Xbox OS is very interesting.
– Tom Warren (@tomwarren) 24 April 2026
Before and after Xbox Series 2025’s apocalyptic price change, Xbox consoles fell behind PS5 in sales. Sharma told Totilo that she “wanted to see the Xbox.” [division] Return to development next year.” Part of this new effort is a lower-cost Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription. The price drop was praised by gamers, even though it took away the opportunity to play. Duty Title on launch day.
The extremely high cost of the Series S/X will not help bring back growth. The $900 PlayStation 5 Pro with its updated upscaler is currently the most powerful console you can buy outside of a PC. With Project Helix approaching and a possible launch in 2027, some players will want to purchase the last-generation console, which has a higher price than it did on launch day. So this game and peripheral will come on sale. Sharma and Booty were clear that they are still doing an internal cost/benefit analysis on console exclusivity. To impact growth, let alone profitability, they need more gamers, especially more daily active users or DAU.
Xbox doesn’t need new players; it needs older players
Basically, Sharma wants players who used to play on Xbox to come back. When margins are so tight in the gaming world, word of mouth matters a lot. That’s why Sharma and Booty mentioned new accessories and peripherals for existing Series X players. Microsoft’s gaming arm already has a team focused on player experiences. The group recently added new visual and sound effects to the achievements. Reminding players of the original pops and celebrations for achieving rare achievements on their Xbox 360 is like a hit of nostalgia-filled dopamine in a big vein.
You can clearly see this play towards nostalgia in the redesigned Xbox logo. Instead of a light white halo Xbox console.
we are xbox pic.twitter.com/tJs10kGLwn
– Xbox (@Xbox) 23 April 2026
Sharma – who was bullied for her lack of gaming experience when she first arrived – has reached this point after less than two months on the job. He said all the right things to get Xbox fans excited again. All that remains is to wait and see whether the company follows through on its promises or not.
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