“Xbox is not for sale,” CEO Asha Sharma said in a new interview with the New York Times. “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.”
Sharma’s statement would seem to refute prior reports that a sale of Xbox is being considered, but it does leave open the possibility of other movement in that direction, including spinning it off or entering into a joint venture with other partners. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella also recently implied that some kind of major structural rework could be in store, saying that after “streamlining” Xbox—a euphemism for laying off thousands of people and closing, dumping, or merging numerous studios—”we have to invent the right sustainable business model that allows us to deliver gaming to more and more people.” What that model will look like will presumably become clearer once the cuts are finished: Announcing the most recent cuts, Xbox CCO Matt Booty said the “reset” (another euphemism) that began in July is now about three-quarters complete.
