Xbox CEO Asha Sharma Says the Brand Is “Not for Sale”

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has put a firm lid on speculation that Microsoft might offload its gaming division, telling The New York Times that Xbox is “not for sale” and that the company is committed to playing the long game despite a turbulent stretch of layoffs, studio closures, and canceled projects.

A Direct Denial Amid Ongoing Uncertainty

Sharma’s statement came in response to questions raised by The New York Times about whether Microsoft could eventually spin Xbox off into an independent entity or restructure it as a joint venture with outside partners. According to Dexerto, she left little room for ambiguity: “Xbox is not for sale. We will do whatever it takes to set the company up for success, and we will look at the right partnerships, the right operating model and everything needed to achieve that.”

She also addressed the idea of a spin-off directly, saying, “We’ve got a long way to go with Microsoft, and we’re going to take the long-term view.” The comments follow a report from The Information that Microsoft had at least considered making Xbox a wholly-owned subsidiary, a structure that could have opened the door to joint ventures with other companies.

The Restructuring Behind the Rumors

The speculation about Xbox’s future did not emerge from nowhere. As Rock Paper Shotgun notes, the rumors have grown alongside a significant reorganization of Microsoft’s gaming business under Sharma’s leadership. Nearly 2,000 Xbox employees have been laid off, several studios have been sold or shut down, and multiple game projects have been canceled. The scale of those changes fueled outside theories that Microsoft was preparing Xbox for a sale or a dramatic shift in ownership.

Sharma has previously acknowledged that the division needed a reset after investments in Game Pass, multiplatform publishing, and a broader content library did not expand at the pace Microsoft had anticipated. The current strategy narrows the focus to a smaller set of major franchises and continues development on next-generation hardware, currently going by the name Project Helix.

Where Xbox Goes From Here

Despite the cuts, Sharma told The New York Times that Xbox still reaches 500 million players every month. Looking ahead, Microsoft is pointing to cloud gaming and emerging markets in Africa and South Asia as areas for growth. The company is also doubling down on its biggest franchises, with Sharma citing The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, and Minecraft as central pillars of its going-forward plan, including what she described as “more” massive investments in the Minecraft franchise specifically.

Whether that strategy is enough to restore confidence in Xbox among players, developers, and partners remains an open question, but Sharma’s message is clear: Microsoft is not walking away from gaming, and Xbox is not heading to the auction block.

Sources: Dexerto, Rock Paper Shotgun