Xbox CEO Debunks Spinoff Rumors Following Layoffs

Xbox CEO Says It's "Not For Sale" Amid Strong Spinoff Rumors Published Sep 30, 2026, 12:32 PM EDT Joshua Robertson is an editor for TheGamer, having working in news, guides, features, and reviews since 2022. They have written thousands of news stories, ranging from industry-breaking events, to smaller, more personal community pieces, and have covered several high-profile showcases such as The Game Awards and Nintendo Directs. Joshua is considered an expert in soulslikes, horror, JRPGs and everything Final Fantasy, having written extensive coverage for massively popular online titles like Final Fantasy 14. Sign in to your TheGamer account Xbox has had a rollercoaster of a month, nabbing Hideo Kojima out from under Sony's nose before going on to announce the next step in its grand "reset", which is corporate speak for laying a bunch of people off to save money. As part of those recent layoffs, it saw studios like Rare and Obsidian absorbed into much larger studios, those being Activision and Bethesda respectively. From an outside perspective, it looks like Microsoft is gathering all of its loose ends and forming them into as tight of a corporate blob as it can, and many have speculated that this is a tactic some companies do if they're looking to be sold off. It's no secret that Xbox hasn't been making that much money, and it fits with previous rumors that new CEO Asha Sharma was brought in to slowly spin things off. Xbox Is "Not For Sale" Says CEO Asha Sharma However, Sharma has now debunked rumors of Xbox being sold off in a new interview with The New York Times (thanks Kotaku). In the interview, Sharma lays out clearly that "Xbox is not for sale", and goes on to explain that the company will "do whatever it takes to set the company up for success, and we will look at the right partnerships, the right operating model and everything needed to achieve that." Sharma also admits that Xbox has "a long way to go with Microsoft" and that it's "going to take the long-term view." While it doesn't outright debunk rumors that Microsoft may make Xbox a standalone subsidiary that gets the company off the books, it does rule out Microsoft straight up selling the company to another massive corporation. It would also make sense for Xbox to stick with Microsoft in some capacity, especially with its recent moves in the industry. Gutting the team behind Halo and starting from scratch with Activision would be rather bizarre if Microsoft wants to get rid of Xbox entirely, as would be giving Hideo Kojima a bag of money for a game that is a minimum of five years away from release. It's also worth noting that things change in the industry quite quickly, and it's not like Xbox is a purely innocent and lovely company that has never told a single fib in its entire history. Xbox might not be for sale right now, but a few years down the line, you never really know. Brand Microsoft Original Release Date November 10, 2020 Original MSRP (USD) $499 Operating System Proprietary (Windows-based) Processor Custom AMD 8-core Zen 2 3.8 GHz Resolution 720p - 4K UHD