Xbox CEO Warns Brand Will Not Survive Without New IP [Confirmed]

According to verified reports from GamesIndustry.biz published in October 2026, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma warned employees during an internal town hall meeting that the gaming giant will not survive if it relies solely on existing legacy franchises. Sharma emphasized that the organization must summon the courage to invent enduring new intellectual properties capable of capturing fresh audiences and scaling into billion-dollar global powerhouses. This strategic pivot arrives amidst a turbulent business reset that previously saw high-profile cancellations including Rare's Everwild and Ninja Theory's Project Mara, alongside extensive workforce reductions totaling approximately 3,200 job cuts and five studio divestments. Despite these severe contractions, Sharma reported that Xbox is finally returning to growth and launching Xbox Labs—a specialized experimental unit pairing engineers and game scientists to incubate emerging technologies. Similar corporate contractions have rippled across the sector, echoing turbulent shifts seen in enterprise maneuvers like the [Funcom Layoffs: Dune Awakening & Conan Pivot [Confirmed]](/news/funcom-layoffs-dune-awakening-conan-pivot). Leadership maintains that aggressive reinvestment paired with novel creative risks is the only viable path forward for the ecosystem.