microsoft has officially fallen the microsoft game name, restoring its gaming division to xbox. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma confirmed the change in a post on Xbox Wire, saying: “Microsoft Gaming describes our structure but it doesn’t describe our ambition.
So, we go back to square one and change our team name. We are Xbox.” The rebrand comes after Sharma took over as gaming CEO following the departures of Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond earlier this year.
What is changing within Microsoft Gaming and why?
The Microsoft Gaming umbrella was introduced to separate the Xbox brand from specific hardware and support a platform-agnostic approach focused on cloud and mobile gaming. This strategy, which led to campaigns such as “Everything is an Xbox” and “This is an Xbox”, faced internal resistance and did not stop the decline in hardware revenue. After assuming power, Sharma was one of the first to suspend both campaigns.
According to an internal source cited by The Verge, Sharma has told employees that “Xbox should be our identity.” Slogans such as “The Return of Xbox,” “Great Games” and “The Future of Gaming” have been displayed in the Xbox office areas at Microsoft headquarters.
How this rebranding is connected to the Game Pass changes
The recent rebranding comes alongside changes to Game Pass pricing and content, announced earlier this week. Sharma noted that the service has become too expensive for many players after last year’s price increases. As part of the update, Game Pass Ultimate has been reduced from $30 to $23 per monthand PC Game Pass has dropped from $16.50 to $14 per month.
The restructuring also affects Microsoft’s justification for its $69 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard. Future Call of Duty titles will no longer be released on Game Pass on launch day. Instead, they will join the service about a year after launch.
Microsoft has not announced any other structural changes to the Xbox division beyond the name change and Game Pass updates.
