Xbox CEO Details Plan to Help Brand Grow After Layoffs

In an internal memo obtained by Game Developer and The Verge, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma detailed the platform’s goals for fiscal year 2027, following a period of mass layoffs that affected 1,600 employees in early July — with another 1,600 cuts expected in the next fiscal year, in addition to a series of studio divestments.

Sharma laid out a plan structured around the “four C’s”: “core”, “content”, “creation”, and “connection”. The strategy places the console at the center of the business, with Game Pass, Windows, and streaming serving as platforms for new players and developers. Regarding its franchises, the executive said that three properties each generate more than $1 billion per year, and that the company will “transition from a broad, decentralized system to one more focused on our strongest franchises and bigger new ideas”, while also expanding into the mobile market.

Transmedia plans are another pillar, with Sharma saying that Xbox will “build long-term plans for our biggest franchises across film, television, consumer products, sponsorship, live experiences, and form new global partnerships, including China.”

The plan also calls for record investment in Minecraft. According to Sharma, “user-generated content has driven over 60% of net consumer spending growth outside China since 2021. Minecraft is the best-selling game in history and one of the world’s largest creative communities. We will invest in Minecraft more than ever, strengthening the experiences players love while expanding the tools that help people create, share, build audiences, and earn.”

The announcement comes on the last day of a month marked by major instability for the company’s workers and the industry as a whole. Microsoft is also facing legal action from labor unions over alleged irregularities in the layoff process.