Xbox CEO Asha Sharma Says They Need to Invest More in Xbox Consoles and Teases Next-Gen Consoles - News
by William D'Angelo , posted 2 days ago / 3,112 Views
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma in an internal town hall with employees, reported by Windows Central, discussed the recent changes at Xbox and the future of Xbox with Project Helix.
She suggested Xbox needs to invest more in consoles, despite the fact the segment hasn't seen growth in the number of players. She believes Xbox has a chance to grow in the space and that Xbox doesn't have "the right" to grow outside of consoles if they can't server their "most valuable players the right way."
Sharma states that strengthening the current generation of Xbox - the Xbox Series X|S - is to key to this, and called out Xbox Cloud Gaming, disc-to-digital program, and the growing number of Xbox Play Anywhere titles. She did tease Xbox Game Pass will get "flexible for more players in the future.
She also discussed the next-generation of Xbox, Project Helix, and described it as a "family of devices" and might have hinted at a potential handheld.
"We are moving to a family of devices for Gen-10," she said. "There is not one device that fits all. We will certainly have a great console first, but we also know that many players will be on the go. There are some things that we are the best in the world to manufacture, and there are other things that will we partner on. So, we will be sharing more about that as our plans develop. The operating system is starting to look really good. We're very excited about this."
There are plans to grow Battle.net as a platform and right now it is nearly on-par with Steam in terms of user retention. "We will do it the right way for those communities," she said on Battle.net.
Xbox PC, according to Sharma, is the number one PC gaming storefront in China. Xbox will continue to invest in other PC apps where there is a distinct audience.
Xbox is also working on "simplifying" the target and streamlining APIs for publishing on Xbox to make it easier for developers to release games on Xbox Series X|S, Project Helix, and Xbox PC.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can follow the author on Bluesky.
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How can they even be mentioning "next gen" yet, given the absolute state of the chip industry these days?. They should just keep selling what is currently available and try their best to navigate the shortages and hopefully try to get the prices back down to a reasonable level again.
She talks too much.
...and makes allot of sense in the process.
Good, let her communicate with the public. Shes actually listening.
Its almost like its her job or something
Sounds like another partnership with Asus for the handheld
If rumors are true, next Xbox will be a shit show...
A over glorified PC with no Steam access. Also way more expensive than PS6, +$200 more expensive.
They should do the Series S thing again, but don't compromise on RAM again. That would allow them to have the cheapest 10th gen home console as well.
They won't be able to undercut PS6 without compromising on RAM. They can't possibly compete with Sony in power per buck. Doesn't Series S with all the compromises currently cost nearly as much as a PS5 DE?
The Series S is like a $100 cheaper. But that must be because Sony is willing to take a hit or get closer to just breaking even.
1TB Series S is as expensive as a 825GB PS5 DE (which is vastly more powerful) and just $50 cheaper than the 1TB disc drive model. Keep in mind that PS5 game file sizes are smaller.
Sony has the luxury to reduce storage size as a PS6 option. They traditionally make more money from hardware than Microsoft, and yet the price difference between their standard console and Microsoft's entry level (very compromised) console is marginal. Xbox "Helix S" cannot be cheaper than PS6 without possibly even bigger compromises than Series S (which didn't double as a PC). Sony can opt to go for lower storage size to reduce costs, they're just not playing that card yet for some reason.
They definitely can compete and have multiple times, 360, XB1X and XBSX all superior to PS counter parts in hardware.
Example today: Series X released at the same price as a PS5 yet more powerful across the board.
Keep in mind, the Series S and X never provided refreshed models where the PS5 received multiple price reductions models like reducing copper cooling etc.
X360 was superior to the PS3 and its poor GPU, I'll give you that. But the rest weren't necessarily better when manufacturing costs and timing are accounted for.
Series X isn't superior "across the board". It cost more to manufacture, didn't have a digital edition that is a $100 cheaper to the public, and ultimately got its price increased much further than PS5. Specs wise it's just silly to debate at this point coz the real world differnce is negligable and often favors the PS5. Blame optimization all you want lol.
That said, Microsoft sure "can" beat Sony at power per dollar if they are willing to lose a lot more money per hardware. But they shifted their policy to get closer to breaking even and potentially selling at a profit. So expecting the "Helix S" to beat the standard PS6 in price without compromising RAM is just setting yourself up for disappointment. It's not realistic in the context of modern Microsoft.
For a while, 2TB Series X cost around as much as PS5 Pro + Disc Drive before it was discontinued following the latest price hike.
PS has only ever once out preformed the Xbox consoles in hardware power with the PS4.
Xbox > PS2
360 > PS3
XB1X > PS4 Pro
XSX > PS5
Now both companies took different routes with the PS5 Digital and XSS Digital, and Sony also went with a Pro model, Xbox didnt. Thats based on choice, not capability.
So you can bet the next top of the range Xbox has a higher chance on delivering better hardware based on history.
Your comment ignores time and manufacturing costs. It also ignores that PS5 >>>>> Series S and PS5 Pro >>> Series X.
The only objective win MS had when costs are taken into account is Xbox 360. Sony got ambitious with Cell and Bluray and had to include a mediocre GPU to keep the costs down. Late expensive consoles are generally expected to outperform older cheaper consoles. But Microsoft rushed the X360 (resulting in countless cases of RROD) and Sony underdelivered.
Thats a false equivalence.
The XSS was a complete redesign, designed to be less capable and was competing with Base PS5 Digital.
The Series X is also competing with base PS5 which on paper is more powerful. Was not competing with the Pro model. Xbox never made a Pro version of the X.
A fair comparison is the PS4 Pro vs Xbox One X, and the X was clearly more superior.
This Gen, the cost of each Base consoles are extremly similar, however you would expect the Series X to cost slightly more due to it having both a CPU and GPU advantage.
PS5 DE cost (MSRP) a $100 more than a Series S and a $100 less than a Series X, yet was far more powerful than a Series S and near identical to Series X right off the bat. Physical PS5 broke even only a few months into the generation. Meanwhile Microsoft was said to have lost hundreds of dollars per hardware. So no, PS5 was quite a bit cheaper to manufacture than a Series X, and was available in digital-only format, effectively undercutting the Series X for everyone who doesn't value discs.
The price difference between PS5DE and Series S was the same as between One X and PS4 Pro, yet the performance gap is massive. It's a Sony win no matter how you spin it. And it's not my problem that Microsoft sucks at updating their consoles internals to bring the costs down to a comparable level to Sony.
These days Sony has them beat on power per dollar and it's okay to acknowledge this. It's actually kind of hilarious that the Series S costs about as much as a digital PS5 when effective storage is equalised.
I think people need to look at the Series S in terms of size though. It's quite an achievement to fit all that power into something not a lot bigger than a PS2 I think it's a great console. Your right the PS5 Digital Edition was a bargain though. If you just wanted both Platforms both offered a inexpensive way (at the time) to join in but sadly prices have since gone wild.
Again wrong. Both PS5 and XSX cost about the same to manufacture, X should be slighly more due to being more powerful. Whatever the price Sony and Xbox put on the box in Retail is an internal choice, not a manufacturing cost.
Secondly, both companies sold their consoles at a loss at launch. Both rely on software sales and subscriptions to cover the losses.
Thirdly Xbox didnt make a Pro, they didnt see the need to rip off their customers. That was a good decision by Xbox. The Series X didnt need a Pro version but if they did, you can bet it would slap the PS5 Pro silly, just like the X1X to the Ps4 Pro last gen.
Your denial changes nothing. PS5 disc edition made profit in its first year. Series X never made profit as of 2024, and both models were reported to have lost at least $100-$200 per unit. As a matter of fact not a single Xbox made money from hardware as of 2024~
Series X cost more to develop due to a larger die, a more complex cooling system, a fewer smart optimisations reducing costs, and Sony's ability to sell a lot more. It wasn't even positioned as a mass market product. The Series S was intended as Microsoft's main system, and they openly said they didn't need a midgen upgrade because Series X existed. Your imaginary what if's are meaningless.
More like $400+
But I think they'll have multiple configurations including a Series S-esque one (which will be around as expensive and notably weaker than a PS6).
Is she trying to extract more per console user like PlayStation now is? Because there's no indication Xbox will ramp up Series X/S console production, not at the high prices they are selling them for.
2 days before NPD releases. Let's see that console growth she's talking about.
Battle.net? Ugh, please no.
They still need games, and they're not off to the best start with what Gears of War E-Day is shaping up to be.
does anyone have faith in Asha?
Xbox will be more profitable just by getting rid of dead weight. Focusing on popular IPs will also help software sales. Asha is undoing poor choices made years ago, but that doesn't guarantee great success moving forward.
Its kinda sick to call human being dead weight especially when we are talking about company as profitable as Microsoft who bought all of these workers company in the first place.. Its gross.
is that a yes?
I am not all a Microsoft or XBox fan, but she certainly seems better than her predecessors who ran XBox into the ground. When you find yourself in a deep hole, the first step is to stop digging. I have no good will toward Microsoft, but I would like to see XBox survive just to keep some pressure on PS. Switch is kind of a different market, so that doesn't put the same kind of pressure on Sony. Do I have faith in Asha? I certainly don't expect the next XBox to be a massive hit, but it could do moderately well if they focus on gamers. She is saying at least some of the right things. Actions are stronger than words, though. It mostly sounds like lip service and marketing speak, rather than a real dedication to getting back to their roots. Personally, I expect the next XBox to be a bomb. So, I guess the answer is no, though I would like to see her prove me wrong.
In her short tenure, she's already the best thing to happen to Xbox in nearly 2 decades. Phil Spencer was holding the division back
is that a yes?
This is the most faith i've had in any gaming console ceo since Iwata/Reggie
sounds like a senate hearing answer with josh hawley
If i say yes will you be satisfied? If so, YES.
no, just looking to see what people think, just having fun brother
I don't even remember the guy's name, but Nintendo's current CEO is definitely doing more things right than the others since the og Switch, though.
