Xbox is ditching Microsoft gaming branding, here’s what Asha Sharma has planned

Xbox is going back to basics, and apparently, that starts with the name.

According to a report from Tom Warren at The Verge, Microsoft’s new gaming chief, Asha Sharma, addressed staff at a recent all-hands meeting, where she made clear that the Microsoft Gaming branding is being ditched. Her reasoning was “Xbox needs to be our identity.” The shift towards Microsoft Gaming branding initially happened around 2022, tied to the Activision Blizzard acquisition under Phil Spencer. Sharma, who replaced Spencer following his retirement, clearly isn’t interested in keeping that legacy intact.

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate price cut

Since taking over, Sharma has moved quickly. Alongside the rebrand push, she’s already overseen a price cut on Game Pass Ultimate, dropping it from $29.99 down to $22.99 per month. The trade-off there is that new Call of Duty titles will no longer land on the service on day one, which is a notable caveat.

Both Sharma and Xbox CCO Matt Booty have since published a joint mission statement making things official. In it, they describe Xbox as a “challenger” brand that needs to move with “pace, energy, and a level of self-critique that should feel uncomfortable.” Bold words.

Things that are changing

The statement touches on a few big areas. Exclusivity is being reconsidered; Xbox has spent recent years releasing titles on PlayStation and Nintendo, and that approach is now under review. AI is also on the table, though Sharma has been clear she has no patience for AI done badly, previously stating that “great stories are created by humans.”

Project Helix, Xbox’s next console, sits at the centre of all this. Affordability and player choice are being positioned as the pillars of Xbox’s future, something that’ll matter a lot given how expensive gaming hardware and development have become lately.

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