:STATS

:INFO
The Reset Memo
On July 6, 2026, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma sent an internal memo that sent shockwaves through the gaming world. Microsoft had spent the better part of a decade buying every major studio it could find, from the makers of Minecraft to the publisher of Call of Duty. The bet was simple: own the content, own the players, own the future of gaming. It did not work out that way. Revenue fell. Hardware sales collapsed. And in one memo, Sharma declared a full reset.


:TIMELINE
🎮💸📉
2014-09-01 | Microsoft acquires Mojang (Minecraft) for $2.5 billion. The deal is mocked at the time. It proves to be the only purchase that clearly pays off.
2019-06-01 | Double Fine Productions acquired at E3. Tim Schafer's beloved studio (Psychonauts, Grim Fandango) joins Xbox Game Studios.
2020-09-01 | ZeniMax Media announced for $7.5 billion, adding Bethesda, id Software, Arkane, and the Elder Scrolls, Fallout, and Doom franchises.
2022-01-01 | Microsoft announces intent to buy Activision Blizzard King for $68.7 billion, the largest gaming acquisition in history. Regulators push back hard.
2023-10-01 | Activision deal finally closes after 21 months. Xbox now controls roughly 40 studios and some of the biggest franchises on earth.
2024-01-01 | First post-merger layoffs: 1,900 jobs cut. Mid-year brings studio closures: Arkane Austin, Tango Gameworks, and Alpha Dog are shut down entirely.
2025-07-01 | Company-wide Microsoft layoff wave hits gaming hard. Hardware revenue has now fallen for three consecutive quarters. Black Ops 7 underperforms expectations.
2026-07-01 | Sharma's memo lands. 3,200 jobs gone. Double Fine and Compulsion Games return to independence. Ninja Theory and Undead Labs sold to undisclosed buyers.

:QUOTE [quotetype:plain, subtitle:Asha Sharma]
Excluding Activision Blizzard King, we invested more than $20 billion over five years in content, platform, and hardware, yet our annual revenue declined by nearly $500 million during the same period. This trajectory cannot continue.


:NOTE
What Xbox Still Has
The franchises Microsoft is doubling down on: Minecraft (Mojang reports directly to Sharma), Halo (Campaign Evolved out July 28), Gears of War E-Day (October 6), Forza Horizon 6, and the full Activision Blizzard King library including Call of Duty and Candy Crush. The Elder Scrolls 6 and Fable remain in development with no release dates.


:NOTE
The Numbers That Sank the Ship
Xbox hardware revenue fell 25% in FY2025, then 29%, 32%, and 33% in the next three quarters. Content and services growth, which briefly surged after the Activision close, turned negative by late 2025. Sharma's memo noted that in a typical year the division lost 64 cents for every dollar invested in non-Activision studios. Operating margins ran at 3 to 10 times lower than comparable platform and publishing businesses.


:LINK
Learn more | The full Sharma memo | https://playday.one/2026/07/06/xbox-ceo-asha-sharmas-full-memo-on-xbox-layoffs/
Track the studios | Pure Xbox studio tracker July 2026 | https://www.purexbox.com/news/2026/07/heres-the-new-lineup-of-xbox-game-studios-for-july-2026-onwards