An internal memo from Xbox chief Asha Sharma, obtained by The Verge, lays out how Microsoft plans to run its gaming business next, and the console is still at the center of it.
The plan is built around four priorities, all conveniently starting with the letter C.
Core: “Strengthen our platform, led by console.” Sharma reportedly calls the Xbox console the flagship gaming experience and says it still brings in the majority of Xbox revenue. Windows, Game Pass, cloud streaming, and the Xbox operating environment are described as extra ways to pull in players and developers, not replacements.
Content: “Grow great games into global franchises.” Translation: fewer scattered bets, more focus on properties that can grow worldwide.
Connection: “Extend the worlds that fans love.” Vague, but it points at long-term support for existing series and pushing them further into other media.
Creation: “Make Minecraft the world’s creator platform.” That line got the most attention. Sharma reportedly wants Minecraft treated as a platform rather than just a game, with Mojang sitting closer to her organization.
Big numbers, no names
The memo reportedly compares Xbox to one of the world’s biggest stadiums, claiming it brings together more than 100 million people daily, over 500 million monthly, and nearly one billion each year. Those are overlapping audience figures across Microsoft’s whole gaming portfolio: consoles, PC, mobile, Battle.net, Game Pass, and cloud.
It also states that three Xbox-owned franchises each pull in more than $1bn a year. The memo doesn’t name them. Call of Duty, Minecraft, and Candy Crush are the obvious guesses, but that’s speculation, not confirmation.
That scale exists because Microsoft bought it. Mojang cost roughly $2.5bn in 2014, ZeniMax about $7.5bn in 2021, and Activision Blizzard King around $68.7bn in 2023, which handed Microsoft Call of Duty, Warcraft, Diablo, Overwatch, and King’s mobile catalog.
On the studio side, Sharma reportedly says Xbox is moving away from a heavily decentralized setup toward a structure “more focused around our strongest franchises and biggest new ideas.” No studios were named, and no layoffs or closures are mentioned in the memo.
There’s also a financial roadmap, including a phase to “scale what works,” a push to bring profitability in line with industry averages, and growth tied to fiscal 2028. Sharma reportedly wants more international partnerships too, with China getting a specific mention, though no company or deal was named.
What the memo doesn’t include: a new console, prices, specs, exclusivity changes, a Minecraft sequel, new Game Pass tiers, or any announced changes to Java Edition, mods, private servers, or Marketplace payouts. Minecraft already runs a commercial creator economy through Bedrock’s Marketplace and Minecoins, and the memo doesn’t spell out what “world’s creator platform” means in product terms, which is exactly why comparisons to Roblox and Fortnite started flying within hours.
