Xbox Major Rebrand And Name Change Usher In Brand-New Era

As I’m sure you’ve probably noticed by now, Xbox has been making some huge moves under the new CEO Asha Sharma, who recently took over from Phil Spencer.

So far, Sharma has gone down very well with gamers. Most recently, Xbox announced it would dropping the price of Xbox Game Pass, with the caveat Call of Duty titles will no longer be offered on the service day one going forward. That’s something I think most of us can probably live with, and it was confirmed Call of Duty games will arrive on Game Pass roughly one year later.

Custom Image by Ben Brosofsky

Sharma isn’t done, though. Not by a long shot. In an internal company memo obtained by Tom Warren at The Verge, Microsoft is officially doing away with its Microsoft Gaming branding and returning to Xbox as an umbrella term for all of Microsoft’s gaming output.

According to The Verge, this rebrand and name change is all part of a shift in focus and a concentrated effort to bring Xbox back to its roots. The Microsoft Gaming name was originally envisioned as a way to emphasize the “play anywhere” ethos that at one point fueled the company, driven by a push for cloud gaming and the ability to play on mobile devices.

As per the memo:

“’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.”

This rebrand is perhaps not surprising. According to multiple reports, the “Everything is an Xbox” marketing campaign was not a big hit internally, and did little to change the company’s fortunes following years of falling hardware sales. Sharma scrapped Everything is an Xbox almost immediately after taking the CEO position, and Microsoft Gaming is meeting the same fate for the same reasons.

Sharma reportedly told employees in the memo that “Xbox needs to be our identity.” Moreover, The Verge reports that slogans bearing “Return of Xbox” now adorn the company HQ, alongside phrases like “Great Games” and “Future of Play.”

Sharma’s memo appears to end on a positive note. “Over the last five years, Xbox and the industry have been through an unimaginable amount of change, and this team has continued to deliver through it for our community,” she writes. “Thank you for staying focused on what matters. 62 days in, we’re proud of how we’ve honored our commitments of great games, return of Xbox, and future of play. We’re here to do the most creative and courageous work of our lives, and that’s what we’ll do together.”

Microsoft Gaming is dead. But Xbox, it seems, is just getting started with a brand-new chapter. With Halo, Fable, and a brand-new Gears of War game all just around the corner, the struggling platform holder could finally be getting the second-wind it’s desperately needed.