Xbox chief denies sale rumors and confirms ‘reset’ with 3,200 layoffs
Xbox chief Asha Sharma denies Xbox is for sale as Microsoft pushes a new operating model, partnerships and a major reset.
That denial comes alongside broader restructuring reports at Xbox, with Eurogamer describing an internal “reset” and 3,200 planned layoffs before next summer.
Several details about studio changes and shifts within Xbox Game Studios have not been independently confirmed in the supplied sources.
What happened
According to GameSpot, Asha Sharma denied in a conversation with The New York Times that Xbox is for sale. In the quoted passage, she says Xbox is “not for sale” and that the company will look at the right partnerships and the right operating model. The supplied source description also ties that quote to the wording that Microsoft will do “whatever it takes” to set the division up for success. However, the exact context of the interview remains limited in the supplied material, so the full wording cannot be independently verified.
That denial lands alongside reporting about a major restructuring inside Xbox. Eurogamer describes the situation as a corporate “reset” and says a total of 3,200 jobs would be cut before next summer. In that same reporting, the reorganization is framed not as a sale process but as an internal reshaping of the division. The available information does not include a primary Microsoft statement confirming the full scale of the workforce reduction.
The same reporting also mentions studio changes. Eurogamer says Double Fine, Compulsion Games and Undead Labs would have become independent, while the status of Ninja Theory and Arkane is still unclear, according to that article. Other reported shifts, including changes around Activision, Rare, World’s Edge and Obsidian Entertainment, are not confirmed in the supplied sources by a primary Microsoft statement. As a result, it remains unclear which parts of the restructuring have been officially locked in and which still rely on secondary reporting.
The core of the reporting is therefore twofold: on one hand, Xbox denies that the company is being sold; on the other, multiple articles point to a major internal restructuring. The available sources support the picture of a reorganization, not a sale. At the same time, the exact impact on studio structure and the final headcount remain partly unconfirmed in the supplied information.
Timeline
earlier this month: GameSpot publishes reporting in which Asha Sharma denies sale rumors around Xbox.
earlier this month: Sharma says, according to that reporting, that Xbox will look at partnerships and a suitable operating model.
earlier this month: the GameSpot source description links the quote to the wording that Microsoft will do whatever it takes to prepare Xbox for success.
2026-09-27: Eurogamer publishes an article describing the Xbox restructuring as a “reset,” with 3,200 planned layoffs.
2026-09-27: in the same reporting, Double Fine, Compulsion Games and Undead Labs are named as studios that would have become independent.
2026-09-28: follow-up reporting continues to track the impact of the restructuring on Xbox studios, including the unclear status of Ninja Theory and Arkane.
before next summer: according to the reporting, the planned workforce reductions are expected to be completed.
Background
GameSpot says analysts had previously speculated that Microsoft could fully spin off Xbox. The same article also mentions a 3% margin, but that claim cannot be traced in the supplied information to a primary financial source. That financial framing should therefore be treated cautiously and not presented as independently confirmed.
The included GameSpot video embed supports the core quote that Xbox is “not for sale.” The description attached to that video explicitly says Sharma told The New York Times this and adds that Microsoft will look at the right partnerships, the right operating model and whatever is needed to achieve success. The video itself does not add further details about the restructuring, studio changes or the scale of the layoffs in the supplied data.
The broader context is that the reporting follows two lines at once: the denial of a sale and the report of an internal reset. Eurogamer places the restructuring in the context of 3,200 planned layoffs before next summer, while the supplied sources do not include a primary Microsoft statement confirming all of the studio changes mentioned. That makes it important to distinguish between what is reported as a quoted statement and what is described as a secondary reconstruction of the reorganization.
The named studios also require nuance. Double Fine, Compulsion Games and Undead Labs are mentioned in the reporting as having become independent, but the status of Ninja Theory and Arkane is described as uncertain. The same source also mentions shifts around Activision, Rare, World’s Edge and Obsidian Entertainment, but without support from an official Microsoft statement in the supplied material. For publication, it is therefore safer to refer to reported changes rather than definitively confirmed organizational decisions.
Related GAME-scanner articles
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Sources
- GameSpot: “Xbox CEO Insists It’s Not For Sale Amid Studio Closures, Layoffs”
- Eurogamer: “Xbox not for sale, CEO Asha Sharma console…”
- GameSpot video embed with quote from Asha Sharma