Xbox CEO Asha Sharma pointed to record Minecraft and World of Warcraft Forever sales, but Circana sees no impact from her initiatives. 🔗 "Everything they're doing seems to be getting Twitter likes from the most passionate part of their fan base, but other than that, in terms of the actual results, I'm not seeing anything right now."

Xbox is cracking down on “triple-stack” games that give players separate Achievement lists for essentially identical versions on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and PC. According to an email sent to developers, Xbox says releasing identical games that “don’t provide distinct experiences” will violate its Microsoft Store policies. Developers wanting multiple versions will instead need to use Xbox Play Anywhere or game binding, which links things like Achievements and save progress between versions.

Xbox COO Helen Chiang was allegedly terminated for “policy violations,” according to a verified source familiar with the situation who spoke to Eurogamer. Chiang had only been Xbox’s first-ever COO for around three months before leaving Microsoft. Xbox has not confirmed that policy violations were the reason for her departure. Xbox told Eurogamer: “We don’t discuss individual personnel matters. We’re grateful for Helen’s years of service and wish her well.”

Xbox is making employees come back to the office four days a week. Starting February 1, 2027, Xbox staff in the Puget Sound area who live within 50 commuting miles of Microsoft’s Redmond campus will have to be in the office at least four days a week. That’s one more day than Microsoft’s current three-day policy, and even existing exemptions will need to be reapplied for. Asha is really doing great moves, these people need to move their asses and work

Xbox Cloud Gaming is getting a pay-as-you-go option for people who don’t have Game Pass. Microsoft will sell cloud gaming hours in three bundles: > 10 hours — $3.99 > 25 hours — $7.99 > 50 hours — $11.99 The hours don’t expire, so you can use them whenever you want. GTA VI won’t be available to stream on PC through Xbox Cloud Gaming.

Xbox strategy manager Brandon Stirrup has deleted his X account after facing a lot of backlash over his recent comments about AI in game development. Stirrup had spoken openly about Xbox using AI and said developers who refuse to embrace AI shouldn’t be in the business of making games. He deactivated it because of the large number of replies he was getting. There are also claims that Microsoft isn’t happy about the situation and that it has caused some internal discussion

Xbox reportedly had much bigger plans for Halo 2 and Halo 3 remakes than fans may have expected. The projects, reportedly known internally as “Project Manihi,” were being developed by Halo Studios before layoffs and the subsequent restructuring around Halo. The planned Halo 2 remake could have included: -Dual-wielding -A more complete multiplayer experience -Classic gameplay elements The Halo 3 remake was reportedly even more ambitious, with: -Multiplayer -Forge -Theater -Firefight -Additional missions The idea was apparently to make the remakes feel like major flagship releases rather than simple visual upgrades. The plans were ultimately scrapped following the layoffs.