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Xbox CEO Signals Per‑Title Rethink of Exclusives While Prioritising Growth

Sharma’s remarks indicate Xbox will weigh platform identity against publisher reach as it resets strategy to regain momentum.

Overview

  • Asha Sharma said during a Bloomberg Tech interview on Thursday that exclusivity is being actively re‑evaluated and that Xbox will decide on exclusivity on a case‑by‑case basis rather than adopt a blanket policy.
  • She framed her remit as driving long‑term growth, rejecting a fixed 30% accountability margin and setting a multi‑year ambition to make Xbox the leading gaming and entertainment company by 2030.
  • Sharma reported early operational wins, saying Game Pass returned to growth after a price rollback and that Xbox ‘shipped more in the last 100 days than we have in the last year,’ which she called part of a business reset.
  • She described a cautious, utility‑driven approach to AI that backs studio tooling like neural rendering and prototyping but rejects low‑quality AI features and says AI will not replace AAA games.
  • Sharma tied the push for exclusives and the reset to commercial pressures, noting a 33% year‑on‑year decline in Xbox hardware sales and rising memory and storage costs that have raised console manufacturing expenses, while also acknowledging that recent big acquisitions complicate any abrupt platform‑only move.