Microsoft’s Xbox chief says the gaming business is not for sale, pushing back on months of speculation that the company could eventually spin it off.
In a New York Times profile published this week, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma said outright that Xbox is not for sale. Asked whether her endgame was a divestiture after a year of cuts and studio restructuring, Sharma said Microsoft would pursue the partnerships and operating model needed to put the business on stronger footing while taking a long-term view of Xbox inside the company.
Sharma, 38, took over in February following Phil Spencer’s exit. She previously held a product leadership role in Microsoft’s CoreAI group and served as Instacart’s COO, but had not previously run a games publisher.
She inherited a business already undergoing major changes. Sharma told employees in July that Xbox was “not healthy.” Microsoft has since outlined plans to cut roughly 3,200 Xbox jobs and divest multiple studios, while further restructuring remains underway.
Halo’s team and other first-party groups have also been reorganized under Activision or elsewhere within Microsoft’s wider gaming operation.
Game Pass reached about 34 million subscribers before membership began to decline. Xbox has since adjusted pricing, including lower Game Pass prices in Canada, while removing day-one Call of Duty releases from the service.
Microsoft leadership has also pushed back on reports that the company wants to separate Xbox. CEO Satya Nadella recently backed Sharma’s restructuring plan and said he expects Xbox to return to growth in the next fiscal year.
Xbox remains a relatively small contributor to Microsoft’s overall profits, accounting for around 6% according to the Times, while Sharma says the platform still reaches about 500 million players each month.
Several questions remain unanswered, including what Sharma means by the “right partnerships” and “right operating model,” how much further Game Pass could change, and when Microsoft’s next console will arrive. The company has already confirmed that its next-generation Project Helix console is in development.
Analysts continue to discuss the possibility of an eventual spin-off despite Sharma’s denial.
Separately, Xbox has reached a deal with Hideo Kojima Productions for Physint after Sony walked away, including film and TV rights. Sharma pointed to the agreement as an example of how competition and collaboration can coexist in the games business.
For Canadian Xbox and Game Pass users, the clearest signal for now is that Microsoft intends to keep Xbox inside the company, even as the division continues through major changes in staffing, studios, subscriptions and future hardware.
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