Microsoft Flight Simulator X: Steam Edition - Bell 47

Xbox chief technology officer Scott Van Vliet has laid out Microsoft's response to the licensing problem that left players unable to play their games

While the new Xbox leadership team under CEO Asha Sharma has been on a charm offensive lately--while also promising a "reset" for the division that suggests layoffs are on the way--Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella got down to brass tacks recently. During a panel at the New York Times Hard Fork event, Nadella spoke about how Xbox will have to find a way to become more profitable as it enters a new era. "No one can accuse Microsoft of not having invested for the last 25 years," Nadella said. "And now we have to turn this into a sustainable business that delivers what is fundamentally one of the best

A new report sheds more light on the situation at Xbox that led to the big news this week that Microsoft was cutting 3,200 jobs at the gaming company, divesting from studios, and making other cutbacks to "reset" the business. Bloomberg reported that Microsoft spent "nearly $80 billion" in the past 10 years on deals to help revitalize Xbox and realize its dream for Xbox Game Pass, but those plans did not pan out the way Microsoft envisioned. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma said this week that the big bets made under previous leadership--including Game Pass, acquiring studios, and putting its games on riva

The total number of Game Pass subscribers has dropped back down to 30 million, according to a new Wall Street Journal report. This is a loss of around 4 million compared to publicised 2024 numbers. Read more

Microsoft recently announced mass layoffs affecting 4,800 people, including 3,200 at Xbox, and now US Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT) has ripped the technology giant for cutting staff at a time when it's making massive profits. Posting on social media, Sanders pointed out how Microsoft made more than $100 billion in profit in 2025, with CEO Satya Nadella getting paid $96 million. He also called out how US President Donald Trump's new tax plan would save Microsoft $12.5 billion. "Please don’t tell me corporate tax breaks create jobs. It never trickles down," he said, calling out the Xbox layoffs