According to one analyst, Asha Sharma's measures have had very little impact on XBOX
, by Thibaut
Since taking office in February 2026, the new president of XBOX has made numerous statements on social media announcing the brand’s big comeback. Asha Sharma has therefore undertaken various initiatives aimed at turning around Microsoft’s gaming division.
However, Mat Piscatella of Circana has pointed out that, for now, these are primarily PR stunts rather than real changes. According to him, the measures and strategic shifts implemented in recent months have had almost no positive impact on Xbox’s health.
"With Xbox and everything they’re rolling out, all these new programs… At least, based on the sales and engagement data I’m analyzing, I don’t see any positive impact. The program to convert physical discs to digital versions has had absolutely no effect on sales of new physical games. No matter what initiatives they’ve taken on the console side, such as the announcement of the Gears exclusivity, it’s had no effect on console sales. On the contrary, the situation is getting worse. They’ve lost market share in the United States. In short, everything they’re doing seems to be working against their goals.
I don't know what they're doing. It's really hard to find even the slightest sign of positivity or hope on this platform right now. All they seem to be doing is getting likes on Twitter from their most die-hard fans, but other than that, in terms of concrete results, I don't see anything yet. And yet, I’m really trying to find something. Gears is magnificent. It’s a splendid game, but by making it exclusive, they’re limiting its potential as a standalone title in an attempt to boost their platform and at least in the short term, it hasn’t made a difference."
An extremely harsh assessment… Furthermore, Piscatella added that removing Call of Duty from Game Pass Ultimate on release day did absolutely nothing to boost full-price sales. He notes that the engagement rate for Modern Warfare 4 on Xbox was halved compared to the previous installment, which was included in the subscription. As a result, Xbox users likely decided to pass on the game rather than buy Infinity Ward’s FPS at full price.
Of course, the real effects of Asha Sharma’s policy could become apparent later on, given the immense scope of the project.