Microsoft recovers Xbox as the official name of its gaming division.
The move removes the “Microsoft Gaming” brand in a move focused on connecting with the company’s roots and reestablishing the company’s gaming identity.
The announcement was made by Xbox CEO Asha Sharma, who revealed it on Thursday, April 23 during an internal meeting with employees.
Sharma said: “Xbox should be our identity.”
Microsoft initially adopted the Microsoft Gaming brand in 2022, when it revealed its intentions to acquire Activision Blizzard. At that time, Phil Spencer was promoted to CEO of Microsoft Gaming to help Microsoft deliver its gaming initiatives across Xbox, PC, mobile and cloud platforms.
The adoption of the Microsoft Gaming name follows the promise of the “Xbox comeback,” which focuses on prioritizing the Xbox community and reversing past mistakes.
Earlier Thursday, Shar and Xbox President Matt Body sent a memo to all Xbox employees with the title: “We are Xbox.”
“The industry is becoming global and competitive. More than half of revenue, players and market growth occur outside our core markets. But the rest of the world is not just one big market. Developers are increasingly competing with more established Western studios, combining scale, speed and a willingness to reinvent genres that many once considered mature,” the memo reads.
“Xbox will be the place where the world plays and creates. We will build a global platform that connects players and creators everywhere. The console is the foundation, providing a premium experience, and the cloud brings that experience to any device,” he added.
What is changing?
There are additional features along with the rebrand:
- This week the price reduction for Xbox Game Pass was announced
- Call of Duty games will no longer be available on Game Pass, unlike previous plans
- A new Xbox logo with glass effects was spotted at Microsoft headquarters
Xbox’s “north star” in the future would be “daily active players,” according to the memo. The team also wants to reconsider its strategies regarding exclusivity, windows and artificial intelligence.
