I don’t think it was? The most I had ever seen from it was the Xbox Wire post when they announced the ABK aquistion saying they hold the companies in an independent fashion, but everyone would report to Phil as CEO of Microsoft Gaming. Like it only seemed to come up as the new division for ABK, Zenimax, and Xbox & the “CEO of Microsoft Gaming” position. It never seemed that public front facing. Like at all 
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So is Activision and Bethesda now also fall under Xbox? Or is it just the name change for the executive roles?
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She’s not sitting still, yeesh!
It’s definitely good to see, wishing nothing but the best for the best (imo)platform for gaming.
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I think both? At least, that’s what it reads like to me. I think now that Matt oversees gaming content for all studios including Bethesda and Activision and Blizzard, they can properly consolidate everything under a simple “Xbox” as opposed to Xbox being consolidated under “Microsoft Gaming” in addition to Zenimax and ABK.
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I feel like the exclusivity decision will go into effect (if any change) next year with Helix. Unless she choose this year, which would be shocking.
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That’s a great news, for a good time i don’t see why i have to buy another Xbox. And Phil with answers like “Why you care that more people can play this game on other console” makes me infuriating.
Of course is beautiful on paper, but if i can’t play all games on Xbox, in the next generation i go to Playstation or PC where i have more games available.
I’m starting to being a fan of Sharma.
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I think we will see stuff at the June Showcase
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Okay so this makes the name change, that’s not really a name change read as very strategic. This sound like something for the internal teams who would’ve been the ones actually seeing the “Microsoft Gaming” division name change. However, by presenting it in this way I think Sharma is trying to better tie gamers into the fold. Which I think is important because umm….
New feature drops on console have been less frequent. Our presence on PC isn’t strong enough. Pricing is getting harder for people to keep up with. And core experiences like search, discovery, social, and personalization still feel too fragmented. Developers and publishers are asking for more, too: better tools, better insights, and a platform that helps them grow faster.
At the same time, a new generation of players is coming online with different expectations. Their time is split across games, media, and everything else competing for attention. They expect more content in familiar places, want to shape the worlds they play in, and want to create and socialize together, not just play together.
This isn’t saying “Let’s go back to the good old 360 days.” This is saying, “We’re going to continue to evolve, pursue Xbox Everywhere, and our vision remains the same under Phil & Sarah that bad actors kept insisting was killing Xbox.” They still want to grow cloud. They specify making cloud gaming on TVs and low end devices feel more native, fast, and reliable.
Also interested about this part
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Expand into China, emerging markets, and mobile-first audiences
One could argue in addition to expanding into new markets they still REALLY need to improve their presence in markets like Japan and even European countries.
But yeah. This all reads like a great road map and manifesto. It’s super exciting, but lmao it’s not a massive departure from Xbox’s vision for the past several years. Sharma is saying, “We’ll keep improving our execution.” which is great, but also kinda what every business does naturally. This feels more like what I’ve thought from the beginning which is that Sharma was brought on for marketing and to better sell Xbox’s vision to gamers. Which yeah, that’d be awesome. This memo generally speaking wouldn’t be posted boldly on Xbox Wire like this or even necessarily written like this. It’s a slight business update to internals. However, here it’s played like a road map and promise to the Xbox community and it works well for that. I think it will generate excitement and trust in Xbox basically continuing to do what it had been doing 
.
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Phil was checked out. He should have retired after ABK went through
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Along the way, we will reevaluate our approach to exclusivity, windowing, and AI, and share more as we learn and decide.
This sounds like “case by case” basis still.
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Not on marketing, I think that was just an internal company thing.
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The past approach isn’t bad but not stated and/or marketed properly. Not to mention, the alienating sensation was doing a lot harm. Like GPU goes to 30 and bye bye. They felt proud of the discount despite losing CoD. Good, feel good about it. Don’t let no one steamroll you anymore. That time is done.
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I mean he did. ABK only closed in 2024. He stayed on for two years and that’s looking like the time it took to see the acquisition through (to properly integrate it; actually Sarah specifically said this in her memo). The leadership change would’ve probably been discussed from as early as late 2025 (when we got rumors) too. Anyway, Phil was never a marketer. That didn’t change before or after ABK. He excelled at being that “Gamer bro CEO”. His social media posts were casual and he brought the energy that “I’m one of you”. He was never this strategic in what he said and how he communicated to gamers. He was more candid which gamers did appreciate, but as markets & strategies shifted it contributed to everything feeling “flip floppy”. He was really good leading Xbox to its revival following the disastrous Xbox One launch, but once Xbox got bigger he wasn’t as good as a “face” communicating to gamers. He was still a good leader. I mean so much of this stuff was started or done through Phil and Sarah and their leadership of the teams at Xbox. The vision hasn’t changed.
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It’s too soon on the decision on exclusive. Whether she won’t go there, go there but timed, or forever exclusive until new regime I suppose. Right now, she is fixing the name and value including GPU. Exclusive is a lot tricky. That said we can expect Jez and/or Tom to report on where they are leaning to in monthly basis.
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Agree with you. It brings energy which is great.
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First is to bring energy to the workers, then to the world. The fact she made the recent news public is basically saying they won’t alienate from us anymore. Of course, there will be some exceptions, but you get the idea.
No, I’m saying this isn’t actually a change. It feels like a change in messaging to properly communicate what Xbox is doing, but this is what Xbox had been doing with first party games (“exclusive on a case by case”) and even like Microsoft Gaming was never something to “fix”. It wasn’t a front facing name, but more seemed like something for the massive acquisitions to go through and keep integration limited until they could better integrate them.
None of that’s bad. She’s doing a great job better marketing Xbox and communicating the strategy in a way that more effectively invites in the community.
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Ah I see now.
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this is moving fast.
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