Xbox CEO says business is returning to growth

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma told employees at an internal town hall that the gaming business has begun to recover from what she described as an all-time low, while saying the company plans to reinvest and reshape its products and services. She cited growth of “more than two to three times” its previous level but did not define the metric, baseline or time period. Sharma said Xbox’s first-party segment had returned to growth after year-over-year declines and that hours spent on the platform had stabilized following earlier drops. The reports provide no current revenue, player or engagement totals to quantify those changes. Her comments about a recovery were conveyed through an account of the town hall transcript, rather than accompanied by published financial data. She named Gears of War E-Day, Minecraft Dungeons 2 and World of Warcraft Forever as recent releases that had strong starts. No sales, player or other launch figures were provided. Sharma also said Xbox was making decisions to reinvest in the business and described the previous Game Pass strategy as having sent profitability or the balance sheet into “freefall.