Microsoft remains fully committed to its gaming division, with CEO Satya Nadella and Xbox CEO Asha Sharma affirming that the company is "long on gaming" during a recent internal Q&A. The session provided reassurance to employees, coming at a time when the brand is undergoing yet another significant change with the upcoming Project Helix, which will bring PC and console gaming together in a single system for the first time.
During the discussion, as reported by Windows Central, Nadella highlighted how gaming is not just a side business for Microsoft but a core pillar of the company's identity. “We’re long on gaming. We’ll continue to invest, and we’ll always do so,” the Microsoft CEO stated, adding that Xbox's excellence often trickles down to the rest of the company’s business, including cloud and AI.
Gaming, in particular, has been the catalyst for some of Microsoft's biggest technical breakthroughs. From the GPU revolution powered by DirectX to the scaling of the Azure cloud, the lessons learned from the Xbox division have been invaluable to Microsoft’s success, according to its CEO.
“Xbox at its best lifts the entire company,” he remarked, highlighting how the nature of gaming builds a connection with users that other software does not. So much so that even high-level enterprise clients often want to meet with him specifically because they are passionate Xbox users at home.
Games Crafted By Humans, Not Manufactured
During the session, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma confirmed how the company also remains committed to making great games, which are "crafted" by humans, instead of "manufactured", addressing one of the main concerns most have had regarding the increasing usage of AI in game development.
"I'm spending a lot of time thinking about how I can empower these worlds, these stories, and these characters," Sharma said. Nadella echoed this sentiment, highlighting that storytelling is a core part of gaming, and "getting down to that core, the craft that goes with it, this is the place where we have to get the cultural zeitgeist and then have it manifest in everything that we do."
Taking Care of the Current User Base
Although the transition phase is only adding to Xbox's current difficulties, Satya Nadella is determined not to leave current users behind. The contrary actually: the company wants to make sure not only that "the friends we have today, are the friends that you have tomorrow," but also to make this relationship stronger. "We have to really make sure, whether it's console, whether it's PC, whether it's the lover of Forza, Halo, we really want to make sure they love us for what they expect us to do."
While it seemed like Microsoft had been preparing to sunset part of its gaming business with a radical strategy shift and multiple waves of layoffs and game cancellations in favor of other ventures, Satya Nadella's clear message that Xbox is here to stay is most welcome, for both Xbox gaming employees and users heavily invested in its ecosystems.
However, there's no denying that a lot could be riding on Project Helix's success, which is all but guaranteed. As the system is set to be a powerful yet expensive, niche product compared to the PlayStation 6, it remains to be seen whether it will be successful enough for Microsoft to continue releasing Xbox systems.
About the author: Francesco De Meo has been covering video games and technology since 2012, starting his career at small outlets like Gamersyndrome and GeekSnack. After joining Wccftech gaming section in 2015, he quickly expanded his video gaming coverage with in-depth reporting, interviews with iconic industry figures such as Grasshopper Manufacture founder and No More Heroes creator Goichi "Suda51" Suda, Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami, Team NINJA's president and Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda, and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, reviews and on-the-ground coverage of major industry events such as Gamescom and E3. When he's not reporting or reviewing, Francesco can be found playing the genres he loves most, spending time with his six cats, reading, writing music, playing guitar and drumming for his progressive rock band.
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