Xbox is REBORN!
A new era begins for all of us
Xbox has a brand-new CEO. Did you hear? Announced last Friday, Phil Spencer informed the world that he would be retiring and someone new will be in charge of TEAM GREEN. I have a responsibility to inform you that the person you wanted to lead it, will not be getting the position.
Oh, you think I’m talking about Sarah Bond?
I’m talking about YOU.
I know I know, we are all disappointed that you didn’t get the position. AI reading through resumes and selecting candidates is really becoming an issue as of late. Artificial Intelligence & Satya Nadella should have factored in that you have been an Xbox fan since the original Xbox. They should have reflected on your hours of gameplay, endless posts about the brand and how much money you have spent on the product. Why didn’t they? Why would they go with someone who isn’t even a gamer in your eyes?!?!
The reality is she understands growth and she is the right person to lead it.
Asha Sharma is Xbox’s brand-new EVP & CEO. She has worked for several high-profile companies prior to landing her new role, including a stint in marketing at Microsoft over 10 years ago. Every company that she has been a part of had her in a role to grow the userbase and profitability. If you pay attention to what she has been saying and doing, you can see that growing the business is at the top of that list.
As soon as she was announced as the new CEO, everything about her was analyzed by internet sleuths trying to determine if she was a real gamer or someone to sunset Xbox. Sorry Seamus Blackley, she isn’t going to end our beloved brand. She is going to fight to grow it.
"For me, the spirit of 'Return to Xbox' is about returning to the spirit that the team was founded on," Sharma explains. "It's that spirit of surprise, it's the spirit of building something nobody else was willing to try — I've heard 'renegade,' 'rebellion,' and 'fun.' used. That's what I was thinking about when I wrote that."
I would highly suggest that you check out Windows Central’s interview with Asha Sharma, conducted by Xbox & Blizzard enthusiast Jez Corden. Asha covers how she feels about the Xbox community and how "the plan's the plan until it's not the plan."
Asha isn’t afraid to go against the grain. Using the term “AI Slop” in her first statements, which is a taboo phrase to her boss Satya Nadella. How could you not cheer for her? She is saying all of the right things, and these statements are coming from someone who was the President of Microsoft’s AI platform. She has a better vision of the future in comparison to Phil or Sarah because she worked firsthand in growing the very thing that the gaming industry has to reckon with. There are private conversations that happen in board rooms, behind closed doors and away from the public regarding concerns with AI growth and where it is heading. Asha understands the expectations of shareholders, consumers and launching new products. The exact person we need to be at the very top of Xbox as we transition from one console generation to the next.
That brings me back to my original point. You didn’t get the job. The truth is, you have been trying to run the Xbox brand from your X account for many years now and it is time to sit back and let someone else handled it. Phil & Sarah were very active in the Xbox community but retreated away as time went on. Their silence allowed bad takes to grow and when they finally did say something, it was met with anger by hungry Xbox fans who wanted Microsoft to compete like the old days. I’m not going to name names, but some people thought they were really running Xbox. They gossiped because they once had Phil’s ear and met some people during expos, but they really had no business being a mouthpiece for the Xbox community. Accounts would carry the things they would say and report them, then other bad actors would join in to trash the brand even further. We cannot allow this to happen again under the new era of Xbox. There are valid criticisms to be made regarding Xbox and when Asha comments “hear you” on X, you have to trust her to do her job.
If you have browsed social media in the last decade, fanbases are increasingly becoming harder to deal with than actual shareholders. It doesn’t just happen with games but in many industries. For example, wrestling fans are focused on profitability, ratings, crowd sizes and streaming numbers. Why? You are not getting any benefit or money based on this. Cheering when a company announces how much money they made off of you, seems a bit moronic doesn’t it? Yay, they fleeced everyone at the stadium for $5 Million for this event!! Odd thing to celebrate. Enjoy the product and let the professionals run things, whether it is AEW, WWE or your favorite promotion. Just because #2 isn’t drawing as much as #1, it doesn’t mean they aren’t successful.
Everyone’s success looks different.
Shareholders are not watching the death and rebirth of Xbox daily. Hell, they don’t even care about Xbox because Microsoft’s portfolio is so diverse and vast that the biggest driver in revenue is the most boring thing imaginable. Office & Cloud. YAWN!
When you focus so much energy into how the business is being run, when do you have time to play games? There are so many games to play on the platform and new games are dropping weekly. Xbox Game Pass had a controversial price increase last year but has delivered quality content month over month. There is always something new to play. It is time to let go of the proverbial wheel and enjoy the product. Xbox fans are creating ulcers in their stomachs by stressing how successful the brand is or isn’t. There are fair criticisms regarding studios being closed. The Xbox Elite 3 Controller needs to better quality than the 2. Sure, PlayStation has outsold Xbox 5-1 at times, but does that prevent your Xbox from booting up? Does that stop the games you currently own from working? The answer is NO. It is that fear that one day it will all go away. A manufactured fear that prevents you from enjoying what you have right now and in front of you. A fear that is perpetuated by fans of rival consoles who are not seeking enjoyment in their own hobbies.
It is similar to the very religious crowd who tell you that “the end is near!!” for the past few thousand years. How many of them passed away and never saw the world see its end? How much wasted time and energy went into spreading a message of fear that never came to fruition? It is ok to let go and just enjoy the games and the platform. Asha is here to handle all of the business stuff. Let’s have fun again.
With that being said, I will leave you with one final thing to put into perspective what you are doing to yourselves.
If you focus on the fear of tomorrow, you will never be able to enjoy the fruits of today.
Now excuse me while I go play some video games.