Xbox is back: CEO Asha Sharma scraps ‘Microsoft Gaming' in major rebrand

Microsoft is bringing Xbox back as the official name of its gaming division.

The move scraps the “Microsoft Gaming” brand in a move focused on connecting with the roots of the company 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 town hall meeting with employees.

Sharma said: “Xbox needs to be our identity.”

Microsoft initially adopted the Microsoft Gaming brand name back in 2022 when it unveiled its intentions to acquire Activision Blizzard. At that time, Phil Spencer was elevated to the role of CEO at Microsoft Gaming in order to help Microsoft present its gaming initiatives on the Xbox, PC, mobile, and cloud platforms.

The adoption of the Microsoft Gaming name follows the promise of "return of Xbox," which is centered on prioritizing the Xbox community and reversing past mistakes.

Earlier Thursday, Shar,a 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 the market’s revenue, players, and growth are happening outside of our core markets. But the rest of the world is not just a large market. Developers there are increasingly competing with the most established Western studios, combining scale, speed, and a willingness to reinvent genres many once considered mature,” the memo reads.

“Xbox will be where the world plays and creates. We will build a global platform that connects players and creators everywhere. Console is at the foundation, delivering a premium experience, and cloud brings that experience to any device,” it added.

What’s changing

There are additional features along with the rebranding:

• Price reduction for Xbox Game Pass was announced this week
  
• There will be no Call of Duty games available on Game Pass anymore – opposite to previous plans
  
• A new Xbox logo that features glass effects was spotted at Microsoft’s headquarters
  

The "north star" of Xbox going forward would be “daily active players,” according to the memo. The team also wants to reconsider their strategies concerning exclusivity, windowing, and AI.