{"id":9727,"date":"2026-06-12T12:01:21","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T12:01:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.theck1.no\/?p=9727"},"modified":"2026-06-12T12:01:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T12:01:21","slug":"this-cannot-continue-xbox-leaders-lay-out-hard-truths-behind-sagging-brand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.theck1.no\/?p=9727","title":{"rendered":"“This cannot continue”: Xbox leaders lay out “hard truths” behind sagging brand"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n Kyle Orland
\n <\/strong>
\n •
\nJune 11, 2026\n<\/div>\n\n

Just 100 days ago, when new Microsoft Gaming CEO Asha Sharma replaced long-serving executive Phil Spencer<\/a>, she said she’d work to “understand what makes [Xbox] work and protect it.” Now, Sharma and Xbox Studios chief Matt Booty have laid out the many things that are not<\/em> working for the Xbox brand in a brutal self-assessment the they say necessitates a wholesale “Xbox reset.”<\/p>\n

The message sent to Xbox employees and shared publicly via Xbox Wire<\/a> last night paints a grim picture for practically every facet of the Xbox division. That portion of Microsoft is currently only seeing a “3 percent accountability margin” (read: profit margin), down year over year and well below both the game industry average<\/a> and the lofty 30 percent margins that Microsoft is reportedly seeking<\/a> across the board.<\/p>\n

It’s an underperformance, they write, born out of being “overextended” by moves like the $69 billion acquisition of Activision<\/a>. That mega-merger came on top of $20 billion in spending on other acquisitions, platform investments, and hardware subsidies over the last five years, the executives write. But despite the spending spree, Microsoft’s overall gaming revenues are down<\/em> nearly $500 million compared to five years ago.<\/p>\n

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Kyle Orland • June 11, 2026 Just 100 days ago, when new Microsoft Gaming CEO Asha Sharma replaced long-serving executive Phil Spencer, she said she’d work to “understand what makes [Xbox] work and protect it.” Now, Sharma and Xbox Studios chief Matt Booty have laid out the many things that are not working for the<\/p>\n

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