It's like news breaks in chunks these days. Is that planned? It feels planned.

In this episode we cover: Saudi Arabia buys the rest of EVO and announces plans for multiple cities worldwide to host their own. Phil Spencer has retired and his replacement is definitely a signal of what is to come. And Aussies are fun to hang with wherever you meet them. (Okay we don't really cover that but I do mention it.)

In this episode we reference these articles a few times, and I recommend you read them if you have time because they add a ton of context:

The Verge article about Xbox Leadership shake up (Sarah Bonds abrupt exit): https://www.theverge.com/tech/883015/microsoft-xbox-new-ceo-shakeup-notepad

Seamus Blackley says Xbox is being sunsetted:

https://gamesbeat.com/what-an-xbox-founder-thinks-of-the-new-xbox-ceo-seamus-blackley-interview/

Do I think Xbox is being sunsetted? No. If it gets back on track it is a big earner, and it fits with Satya Nadella's goals. Namely consumer cloud compute and AI adoption. I expect the next iteration of Xbox to have an AI assistant that you can't opt out of, and of course AI "tools" will be used in all projects moving forward. I expect it will be used as a selling point on every game. "New AI makes bots behave naturally!" "AI learns and adapts to how you play!!!!" " GenAI generated levels mean every playthrough is unique!!!!!!!!"

Stuff like that.

Do I think Xbox is being brought in line with Satya Nadella's AI push? Absolutely.

Do I think Asha Sharma is going to bring about a new Xbox Golden Age? No. But I do think we need to wait a year to see what she actually does. Because this year will mostly be finishing up Phil's plans. We won't know her real priorities for 6 months minimum, and I am saying a year to be generous.