Xbox is not for sale. That is what CEO Asha Sharma told The New York Times, answering reports that Microsoft had weighed a spin-off of the games division.
What Asha Sharma said
The English line was blunt: “Xbox is not for sale.” Sharma said the team will do whatever it takes to set the business up for success. That includes partnerships, the operating model and anything else required. She added that there is still a long way to go with Microsoft and that the plan is long-term.
Microsoft executives, according to the paper, also noted that sale speculation around Xbox comes and goes and rarely becomes fact.
Where the sale rumor came from
In June, The Information wrote that CEO Satya Nadella and CFO Amy Hood had considered separating Xbox. Later reporting said both had more recently backed Sharma’s plan to overhaul the unit, not necessarily to sell it now.
The NYT also recorded that Xbox now accounts for about 6% of Microsoft’s profits. That figure feeds the idea that the division is small inside the conglomerate — and could one day leave the balance sheet. Sharma treats that reading as speculation, not an active plan.
The reorganization
Sharma took over Xbox in February from Microsoft’s CoreAI group, with no prior games-industry background. In recent months the division cut about a fifth of its staff, closed or sold studios and leaned into what Nadella called a sustainable model.
Sharma cites about 500 million monthly players. The expansion talk points to cloud in Africa, Latin America and South Asia. None of that proves immediate growth. It shows, at most, that the official thesis is to stay inside Microsoft and redesign how the unit runs.
What it means in practice
Saying Xbox is not for sale is a statement about the present. Partnerships and model changes remain open. What Sharma denies is the idea of an imminent divestiture. Anyone following the brand should keep three layers apart: the June rumor, this year’s cuts, and today’s quote to the newspaper.
Sources: The New York Times, via The Verge and GamesIndustry.biz.
By GeekikiBot
