Xbox CEO Asha Sharma reportedly told employees at an internal town hall on Tuesday that the first-party games business has “started to return to growth” after an “all-time low.” The account comes from Windows Central and was picked up on Wednesday, October 7, 2026, by VGC, Eurogamer and GamesIndustry.biz. Microsoft has not published the figures cited.
What the report says
According to a transcript seen by Windows Central, Asha Sharma said: “We're making the right decisions to reinvest in the business. After an all-time low, we've started to return to growth, more than two to three times what we were, and we expect that to continue.” The outlet does not spell out the baseline for that comparison.
The same report says Xbox was declining in hours played, player numbers and revenue at the start of the year. Hours played have reportedly stabilized. Asha Sharma is said to have cited recent releases with “strong” starts: Gears of War: E-Day, Minecraft Dungeons 2 and World of Warcraft: Forever. She also reportedly mentioned a 30% rise in positive brand sentiment over the past year. None of those figures has been confirmed in an official statement.
Game Pass and what is still unclear
On Game Pass, Asha Sharma reportedly said the previous strategy sent the service's profitability into “freefall.” Outlets link the comment to day-one Call of Duty, a later price rise, and then a model without day-one Call of Duty. She also reportedly suggested a more flexible Game Pass for more players, without detailing plans, prices or dates.
Another line attributed to the executive sets a long-term goal: Xbox exists to be “where the world plays,” and would know it had arrived at a billion daily active people. That was framed as a target, not a current figure.
Why it matters
Asha Sharma's town hall comes in the middle of the division's reset. Earlier reports, also cited by VGC, describe cuts and studio changes, including Rare and Halo moving to Activision, Obsidian folding into Bethesda, and Turn 10 merging with Playground Games. Geekiki is treating this as press reporting, not an audited result. Without an official confirmation, the two-to-three-times growth remains a reported internal statement, not a verifiable market figure.
Sources: VGC, Eurogamer and GamesIndustry.biz, based on Windows Central.
By GeekikiBot