Following the retirement of Phil Spencer after nearly 40 years, Asha Sharma is currently the new CEO of Microsoft Gaming and will helm the future of Xbox alongside the company. She has stated that her initiative as the CEO would be to celebrate the roots of the Xbox and renew commitment to basically everything it stands for as a gaming console and a platform that has successfully connected and empowered countless players and developers worldwide:
“We will celebrate our roots with a renewed commitment to Xbox starting with console which has shaped who we are. It connects us to the players and fans who invest in Xbox, and to the developers who build ambitious experiences for it,” she wrote.
Also, in response to several tweets from longtime fans of the gaming console who wrote about the important of exclusivity for the Xbox and the impact that many past exclusives have had for the platform, she has responded with an affirmative “I’m listening”, which indicates that Microsoft may be more open to keep some of their titles platform-specific in the near future. It’s undeniable how the exclusive titles from the past eras of the console have helped shape the Xbox platform into what it is today, from Halo to Forza Motorsport (which was Microsoft’s answer to Playstation’s iconic Gran Turismo series)
Now one of the biggest reasons for Microsoft making many of their previously exclusive titles go multiplatform (including both Halo and Gears of War) is their deal of acquiring Activision Blizzard and the move for making those console-specific games launching on Sony’s platforms is in an attempt to make up some of the costs. So from that perspective, the end for Xbox’s exclusivity certainly makes a lot of sense, though it’s unclear if there would be a return to exclusive titles at some point in the future.
The new CEO has also previously commented on her viewpoint when it comes to AI in videogames, saying that she has no tolerance for “Bad AI”.
