A brand new (but very much like the old one) logo has been revealed for Xbox. It’s the same cross cut into a sphere, but this time it’s translucent. Fancy!
It was accompanied by the words “We are Xbox” which appears to the be the new slogan replacing “This is an Xbox”, so we can’t use the amusing header image above anymore. This seems be part of the huge shake up of the brand by the recently appointed CEO Asha Sharma.
A rumour of some sort of collaboration with Discord has seemingly been confirmed by dataminers who have found that the Game Pass Starter Edition will be included in a Discord Nitro subscription.
Sharma has told employees that Microsoft Gaming is to be rebranded back to Xbox and that they are “re-evaluating” Xbox exclusive games and windowed releases of titles. Now that could mean it could either way, Xbox could lose all exclusivity or they may reign in the current model where games are also released on PS5. Sales of Xbox games on PS5 have been good, but perhaps not the huge numbers Microsoft were expecting.
The memo also states that the company wants to expand into China, which is a big move as Xbox has never had a user base of any size, in any generation, in China. She also seems to touch on a rumour that Game Pass will be restructured with new configurable tiers, “We will offer flexible pricing so it’s easy to get started and keep playing.”
In related news, it is reported that Microsoft is offering to buyout up to 7% of its US employees, which could be over 8.000 staff. “Our hope is that this program gives those eligible the choice to take that next step on their own terms, with generous company support,” was the comment from Microsoft’s executive vice president and chief people officer Amy Coleman, in a memo seen by CNBC.
