While Microsoft’s rebranding of its gaming division into Xbox may have been hailed by many as the company turning a new page, there might be more to the decision than meets the eye. In a recent episode of The Xbox Two podcast, Windows Central’s Jez Corden claims the original branding of the division into Microsoft Gaming may have been part of legal requirements during the company’s acquisition process for Activision Blizzard.
“I was told that the Microsoft Gaming entity was a temporary legal thing that they set up specifically to facilitate the Activision Blizzard acquisition.” While far from an outright confirmation, this would indicate that the rebranding would have happened regardless of whether it was still Phil Spencer at the helm or if current Xbox CEO Asha Sharma had taken the reins.
The rebranding was announced last month, with Sharma and CCO Matt Booty discussing how it will affect the company’s plans moving forward. In a joint statement, the duo said, “‘Microsoft Gaming’ describes our structure, but it does not describe our ambition. So, we are going back to where we started and changing our team’s name. We are Xbox. We are a high agency culture where wild and wonderful ideas thrive. Our job is not to smooth over our differences, but to connect everyone into something greater than any one studio or product.”
As for its ambitions with the next-generation Xbox, dubbed Project Helix, Booty and Sharma spoke about wanting to “lead in performance” and confirmed that the console will be able to play PC and console games.
The rebranding was followed up by Xbox unveiling a brand new black and green logo that served as a call-back to the original Xbox branding in 2001, when the first console in the line-up was launched. The new logo was revealed in a social media post, accompanied by a simple message proclaiming that “We Are Xbox”. The announcement drew plenty of comments from a host of gaming-adjacent companies, including Razer, Mountain Dew, and Discord.
Sharma’s “Return to Xbox” initiative was first brought up back in March, where she reportedly spoke about the future of Xbox as a brand, and how the company will refocus its efforts on making sure that its consoles become an attractive place for gamers once again.
“I have three commitments that I laid out. We will deliver great games,” she reportedly said. “Everything is downstream of great games, that means empowering studios to do our best work. The second thing is the ‘return to Xbox,’ we are going to start with console, and make sure that we understand that this is our reference experience. We will meet players where they are, and build experiences that are instant, seamless, and accessible. And third, we are living through an unprecedented era of change. We will build for the future of play.”
