Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella affirmed the ongoing streamlining efforts within the Xbox team and stated that Xbox plans to return to growth in the next fiscal year. Currently, Xbox's urgent restructuring plan is approximately 75% complete, during which thousands of employees have been laid off, several games canceled, and some studios divested or merged.
In an interview on Alex Heath's "Sources" podcast, Nadella expressed satisfaction with Xbox's current lineup of studios and intellectual properties, as well as confidence in the team's ability to continue producing games. Discussing the restructuring, he mentioned that the team and new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma are streamlining operations, and he is pleased with the progress.
Xbox owns titles such as Minecraft; Microsoft also completed its acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Nadella did not clarify in the interview how studios or projects would be arranged after the restructuring.
Regarding the future direction of Xbox, Nadella stated that the company needs to find a sustainable business model to bring games to more people. He did not specify how this model would operate.
Nadella also stated that Microsoft aims to excel as both a game publisher and platform provider on PC and Xbox. He said that Sharma and her team have proposed a plan for Xbox to return to growth in the next fiscal year, and they are currently proceeding according to this plan while continuing to produce games.