“We are Xbox,” read the masthead of an internal memo sent out to Xbox employees last week. Smothered in a swathe of corpo-speak, the letter seemed to carry some genuine initiative, outlining a rather endearing future for a brand that’s been catching more Ls than the Knicks. It spoke of a platform that fosters creativity, prioritizes signal over ceremony, and embraces a rebellious attitude – basically an antithesis to everything Xbox has represented for the past five years.
This was accompanied by a little logo change because a new era demands a new aesthetic. And I’ll tell you what – for the first time in many, many years, I actually felt some optimism for Xbox. To put that into context, I invested in an Xbox One S at the peak of the PS4’s powers (2018), and persisted with that allegiance when the Xbox Series S first hit shelves.
I love this platform’s history, its catalogue of IPs, and the supremely talented studios under its banner. But it wasn’t until Asha Sharma’s recent arrival that I saw a hint of the old Xbox in the catastrophically misguided vestigial shell this brand has turned into.
So, what has sparked this newfound optimism? Well, beyond the slightly dramatic memo, Xbox’s leadership has made a series of positive moves that align with my personal expectations from the platform.
From binning universally hated marketing campaigns and putting the console experience front and center, to hinting at a revaluation of their stance on exclusives, the green machine is finally starting to bear its fangs. There’s still a long way to go and plenty of wrongs to right, but as far as “vibes” go, I’m smelling a refreshing air of positivity around Xbox.
The Years of Missteps Xbox Has Finally Addressed
First things first: Game Pass, the subscription service that I’ve grown to loathe. I do not like Game Pass, I think it is fundamentally unsustainable and can change consumer behaviour for the worse. I think somewhere down the line, Xbox realised this as well, and jacked up the prices to unreasonable figures. Thankfully, in came Asha Sharma and slashed those prices by 23% globally – a cut that also applies to PC Game Pass, which was fairly priced to begin with.
That’s a win in any book, and possibly the best piece of ‘action’ that we’ve seen from the new leadership. Another notable decision was dropping the vapid “Microsoft Gaming” tag for…Microsoft’s gaming division, and reverting to good ol’ “Xbox.” It’s a token, cosmetic change, but one that signals a return to the brand’s roots, or at least the intention to do so.
The third major decision I’d like to highlight, and easily my favorite of the bunch, is pulling the plug on “This is an Xbox.” The ill-fated marketing campaign was put together to showcase Xbox’s platform agnostic future, where everything – your TV, your Smartphone, your Mini-Fridge – is a f***ing Xbox.
The campaign was a jarring attempt at answering the question of “What is an Xbox?” And in the sweetest case of poetic irony, it led consumers to ask, “Why is an Xbox?” What’s the point of this “console platform” if its services and software are available on so many other devices? What’s the point of investing in any of the hardware it insists on producing when you can find better user experiences on PlayStation or Steam? Hell, what does the “box” in “Xbox” even stand for anymore?
In my eyes, this was a misfire of E3 2013 proportions, and it simply had to go. Once again, Asha Sharma and co. were on the case, quietly shelving the campaign and labelling console as the “foundation” of the Xbox experience. To go along with these moves, Xbox leadership is also “re-evaluating” its stance on exclusives while publicly committing to “affordable” and “flexible pricing.”
If there were a proverbial checklist with a list of instructions on “how to fix Xbox,” these decisions would likely be the first on the agenda. Needless to say, Asha Sharma has ticked them all.
As encouraging as these changes are, this could all be part of some elaborate PR maneuver to ingratiate the new CEO with the Xbox faithful. I’ve been getting some strong ‘fall guy’ vibes from Microsoft’s treatment of Phil Spencer, and I refuse to believe that he was actively pushing against these decisions.
This was one of the few executives who felt like a genuine gamer at heart. You don’t greenlight the acquisition of indie darlings such as Double Fine and InXile if you’re a soulless suit driven by profit and profit alone.
Even if these changes are part of a pre-determined template, I can at least take solace in the fact that Microsoft knows where it f***ed up. It has a general idea of where Xbox is lacking, and cares about the platform enough to invest in its public reputation. And now, with a leader who’s keen on implementing fan feedback, Xbox is finally feeling like the iconic brand that defined an entire generation of gaming.
2026 Will Be The Year That Makes or Breaks Xbox
2026 is, of course, Xbox’s 25th anniversary, and I’m pleased to say that this silver jubilee is shaping up to be special. Forza Horizon 6, Gears of War: E-day, Fable, Halo: Combat Evolved – the boys are back in town. All four of Xbox’s tentpole franchises are showing up to the party for what could be the company’s most triumphant year since the dawn of the 360 era.
That optimism isn’t based on some naive assumption about the quality of these titles either. We’ve seen FH6 in action, we all marveled at the scope of Fable’s systems, and the Silent Cartographer has never looked more gorgeous than in Unreal Engine 5. Sure, these games could end up disappointing in some way or form. But if you look at this release slate for what it is, there’s no better way to restore that Xbox feeling than by playing the biggest hits within the same 12 months.
It’s a bold, volume-heavy strategy that could either re-establish the value of owning an Xbox console or diminish the brand’s value to the point of no return. Simply put, all four of these games need to hit. Individually, each of them has the calibre to become a system-seller (Forza Horizon is arguably one already), and you build up that notion by a strong summer showing.
These four aces in Xbox’s Deck need to be stacked, face up, during the 2026 Games Showcase. I’m talking in-depth gameplay presentations and proper release date announcements for Fable and Gears of War: E-day. Moreover, I don’t want to see their time get eaten up by third-party partnerships that’ll never see the light of day (like Contraband) or a first-party announcement so early in development that the only proof of concept is a title card. Hinge your showcase around these games, Xbox. That is literally what players will be tuning in for.
If we skip further into the future, there are rumors of Project Helix getting a proper reveal during the final few months of 2026. The next generation of Xbox hardware has been billed as a hybrid gaming PC that’ll allow players to access both their console and games. What that essentially means is an Xbox, stripped down to its Windows skeleton, possibly outfitted with a custom UI, and capable of running storefronts such as Steam or the Epic Games Store.
It’s an intriguing proposition, one that falls in line with their push for accessibility. But the fact is, the Steam Machine exists. It will almost certainly be great and will likely eat any PC hybrid alive on its own turf. Valve has spent years cultivating that space, and the SteamOS ecosystem is polished to such a degree that players will be reluctant to let go.
The allure is so strong that any newcomer – regardless of the Xbox brand – would be walking into a losing battle. There is simply no compelling reason for Xbox to plant its flag there.
What the company can, and desperately needs to do, is deliver hardware that feels like a console first and a novelty second. The hybrid angle is a fun headline, but the product fundamentally needs to be rooted in what players actually know and love. A box under the TV. A controller in hand. A boot screen that makes you feel something. And games that leave indelible imprints. That is the Xbox experience, and no amount of PC functionality is a substitute for getting that foundation right.
And while you’re at it, throw in some exclusivity in there, reignite the console wars in 2026. That’s just what will fan the flame for pure Xbox fanboying that gamers have been wanting for.
Project Helix has the potential to be genuinely exciting – possibly the most interesting piece of Xbox hardware since the Xbox One X. But the moment it prioritizes the gimmick over the product, it becomes another entry in a long list of Xbox decisions that looked great in a press release and fell flat in practice.
Xbox has spent the better part of a decade fumbling what should have been an unassailable position. The hardware was there, the studios were there, the goodwill was there, and somehow, it still managed to lose the plot.
But for the first time in a long time, the pieces feel like they’re being put back in the right order. Whether that holds and whether 2026 delivers on its promise are questions only time can answer. What I can say is this: the Xbox I fell for as a kid is somewhere in there, dusting itself off. And I’m cautiously, stubbornly rooting for it.
