Xbox Rebrands Microsoft Gaming, Shifts Focus to Daily Active Players and Future Strategy Amid Exclusivity Review and Acquisition Interest

Microsoft’s gaming division is returning to its original name after four years operating under the Microsoft Gaming brand, with leadership announcing the change in a staff memo that also revealed a new strategic focus on daily active players as the company’s “North Star” metric.

The decision to revert to the Xbox name comes as part of a broader strategic shift led by CEO Asha Sharma and Chief Content Officer Matt Booty, who took over leadership of the division following Phil Spencer’s exit earlier this year. In their memo to staff titled “We Are Xbox,” Sharma and Booty explained that while the Microsoft Gaming name described the division’s structure, it did not capture their ambition for the business.

‘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.

Asha Sharma and Matt Booty, Xbox leadership memo

The name change represents more than just a rebranding exercise, according to the executives. They stated that achieving their master plan requires a transformation in how the team works, signaling operational changes alongside the identity shift. The memo acknowledged challenges facing the division, noting that “players are frustrated” and that “we have work to do.”

New Focus on Daily Active Players

Central to the new strategy is a shift in how success will be measured. Sharma and Booty announced that the company’s new North Star metric will be daily active players, marking a departure from previous focuses on hardware sales or engagement across multiple platforms. This measurement approach emphasizes consistent player engagement as the primary indicator of the division’s health and progress toward its goals.

Context of Leadership Changes

The announcement comes several months after Asha Sharma assumed leadership of Microsoft’s gaming division in February 2026 following the departure of Phil Spencer, who had led the Xbox business for years. Sharma previously served as president of product development for Microsoft’s CoreAI division before taking over the gaming role. The timing aligns with other recent leadership changes within the division, including the earlier exit of Sarah Bond.

Microsoft had officially adopted the Microsoft Gaming name in January 2022 when it announced its deal to acquire Activision Blizzard in a $69 billion transaction, which closed in October 2023. The name change at that time was intended to reflect the broader scope of the gaming business beyond just the Xbox console brand as Microsoft pursued its “play anywhere” philosophy emphasizing cloud gaming and mobile accessibility.

Industry Implications

The shift back to the Xbox name and focus on daily active players represents a potential reconsideration of Microsoft’s recent gaming strategy. The “Everything is an Xbox” campaign that had emphasized platform-agnostic access faced internal pushback and failed to reverse declining hardware revenue trends, according to industry reports. By returning to the Xbox brand identity and establishing daily active players as the key metric, Microsoft appears to be refining its approach to measuring success in the competitive gaming landscape.

As of April 23, 2026, the company has not provided additional details about specific initiatives that will accompany the name change or how the daily active player metric will be implemented across its various gaming platforms and services.