In recent weeks, so much of Xbox’s future has been in flux, what with the abrupt retirement of Phil Spencer, the departure of Xbox President Sarah Bond, the hiring of Asha Sharma to take over Spencer’s role as CEO of Microsoft Gaming and the elevation of Matt Booty to Chief Content Officer.
Those moves, coupled with Microsoft’s shift in strategy to a more third-party approach, having its once-exclusive titles appear on PlayStation, oftentimes day-and-date, with plans to continue those efforts, plus subpar hardware sales, have understandably had many questioning if the company is committed to gaming altogether.
However, CEO Satya Nadella has affirmed that gaming will continue to be part of Microsoft’s future. As part of an internal Q&A, alongside Sharma, Nadella, per Windows Central, doubled down on gaming as a core business pillar for the company. Specifically, Nadella called gaming a “core identity” of Microsoft.
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He further emphasized the importance of gaming as it pertains to Microsoft’s other offerings, doubling down on the investment in the business.
“For me, we’re long on gaming,” Nadella said. “We’ll continue to invest, and we’ll always do so. It’s up to this team to show an excellence in execution, and creativity. Software always carries risk, but this is software with lots of creation risk. It’s way different. But yet, we have to be the best-in-class at it.”
Xbox “at its best lifts the entire company,” Nadella added. It “emotionally touches us,” and that aspect of Microsoft should “always” exist.
Project Helix Will Continue Microsoft’s Investment In Gaming
Perhaps most notably, Microsoft did confirm that a next-generation Xbox console is in the works, dubbed Project Helix. It did so through a social media reveal video.
Following its reveal, Sharma confirmed long-standing rumors that the console will be able to play PC games in addition to existing Xbox software. At the moment, it’s unclear when the console will release.
That reveal follows another hardware release in the form of the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally, a handheld that can play Xbox titles that was released last year. Those pieces of tech are meant to take advantage of an expanding Xbox library, one that has gained its footing in recent years with more and more of Microsoft’s first-party studios finally releasing titles.
Xbox, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, is set to release new entries in its Halo, Forza Horizon, Gears of War and Fable, all core pillars of a group that wants to continue being involved with gaming for the long haul.
- Date Founded
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April 4, 1975
- CEO
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Satya Nadella
- Headquarters
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Redmond, Washington, United States
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