Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has linked the company's recent wave of approximately 1,600 layoffs and the divestment of five studios to the strategic decisions made under previous leadership. In an interview with Fortune, Sharma suggested that the company "spread ourselves too thin" by pursuing numerous initiatives without adequately focusing on the core business.
Sharma indicated that the current situation would be more manageable for a healthier Xbox. She stated that a robust Xbox "could weather the shock of the hardware crisis," implying that the current financial and operational state makes such challenges more difficult and accelerates the need for drastic changes. The ongoing hardware crisis, marked by rising component costs, is impacting major industry players like Valve and Sony as well.
This is not the first time Sharma has publicly referenced the strategies employed by former executives, including Phil Spencer and Matt Booty. Her recent comments, however, offer a more direct explanation of how executive decisions are seen as the root cause of Xbox's present difficulties. Sharma emphasized that the core business must be healthy, describing it as a necessary but not sufficient condition for future success, a statement that some interpret as a potential foreshadowing of further restructuring.