Xbox gets a new "north star" and a branding shift, exclusives also being reconsidered

Microsoft's gaming division has been going through a massive shakeup in recent months. Gaming CEO Phil Spencer and President Sarah Bond exited the company back in February, with Asha Sharma taking over the reins. Since then, she has claimed Game Pass needs a more flexible system and even announced major price cuts and changes to the popular subscription service. Now, Microsoft has shared a message that's been sent to all Xbox teams, revealing a fresh focus for the division.

Written by Microsoft Gaming CEO, Asha Sharma, and head of Xbox Game Studios, Matt Booty, the message goes on to admit that the Xbox division has some work to do on all its platforms. The slow console feature updates, reduced presence on PC, high pricing, inadequate dev tools, and lacking core experiences like "search, discovery, social, and personalization" were all listed as major issues. They also pointed out that the competition coming from indie teams and rising costs for blockbuster games are also not helping the situation.

"The model that got us here won’t be the one that takes us forward," said the duo.

To combat the issues and shift the focus of the company, the message said that Xbox will become a platform built to be "affordable, personal, and open," with its consoles as the foundation while also delivering its games to PC, mobile, and cloud. Its new "north star" will now be "daily active players."

Here are the four priorities of Xbox going forward, as listed on the internal message:

Hardware

• Stabilize Gen9 as a healthy and high-quality base
• Deliver Project Helix to lead in performance and play your console and PC games
• Lead in comfortable, personal, high-performance accessories
• Build a strong ecosystem that expands choice and reach

Content

• Grow and extend an enduring portfolio of franchise players love
• Evolve our 3P partnerships and strengthen our 5-year slate
• Expand into China, emerging markets, and mobile-first audiences
• Maintain and grow in live games and long-term stewardship
• Elevate creator-centric platforms like Minecraft, The Elder Scrolls, and Sea of Thieves

Experience

• Fix the fundamentals for players and partners
• Make Xbox the best place for developers and creators to build and grow
• Overhaul discovery, customization, social, and personalization to connect the community

Services

• Fortify Game Pass with clear differentiation and sustainable economics
• Return the business to durable growth with strong cost discipline
• Make cloud play feel native, fast, and reliable across TVs and low-cost devices
• Use M&A deliberately to accelerate growth where organic paths are too slow

Interestingly, exclusivity was directly mentioned as something Asha Sharma and Matt Booty are reevaluating, alongside "windowing, and AI," with more announcements coming later. With PlayStation also moving away from multiplatform releases, we will have to wait and see if Microsoft takes a similar approach and ditches PlayStation and Switch as day-one platforms for its major first-party games going forward.

At the same time, the Microsoft Gaming brand is being left behind. Just like the old days, Xbox will be the official name of the gaming division under Microsoft going forward.