Xbox has begun to reverse the decline in its first-party games business and intends to expand investments in consoles, said CEO Asha Sharma at an internal meeting with employees on Tuesday (6). The executive also indicated that the next generation will be made up of a family of devices.
According to a transcript obtained by Windows Central, Sharma said that Xbox began the year in decline in metrics such as players, hours of use and revenue, but has already stabilized play time and returned to posting annual growth in titles published by Microsoft itself.
The growth cited by the executive refers to the first-party business, and not necessarily to the entire Xbox division. The latest public results still show pressure: in the quarter ended in June, revenue from content and services fell 10% year over year. In the previous quarter, total games revenue had declined 7%, while hardware fell 33%.
Consoles return to the center of the strategy
Sharma said the company needs to invest more in Xbox as a console, even amid the difficulties in the hardware market. According to her, Microsoft cannot expand its presence on other devices without adequately serving its most valuable players on console.
The strategy includes strengthening the Xbox Series X and Series S, Xbox Play Anywhere, cloud gaming and other features that connect console and PC.
For the next generation, Sharma said that the Gen 10 will be a family of devices, and not just a single machine. Microsoft plans to launch a main console first, followed later by other formats and products developed with partners.
The main project already announced is Project Helix, a next-generation console developed with a custom AMD chip and designed to run Xbox and PC games. Microsoft plans to send alpha versions of the hardware to developers in 2027.
Sharma also said that the next-generation operating system is advancing. So far, Microsoft has not confirmed a commercial date for the launch of the new Xbox.
