EXCLUSIVE: Xbox President Sarah Bond has set up a new team dedicated to game preservation and forward compatibility
What you need to know
- According to emails obtained by Windows Central, which Microsoft has said are genuine, Xbox president Sarah Bond recently briefed her team on a variety of topics.
- In the email, Sarah Bond reiterated Microsoft's plan to build new Xbox hardware focused on delivering “the biggest technological leap forward yet in a generation.”
- Sarah Bond also revealed that Microsoft has established a dedicated team to “carry forward (Xbox's) strong history of providing backward compatibility” to our digital Xbox game libraries across future hardware paradigms.
- Additionally, it was revealed that Xbox has become the most dominant platform for Diablo 4 since the game's inclusion in Xbox Game Pass.
Sarah Bond was promoted to Xbox President just a few months ago and initiated some restructuring to streamline Microsoft's gaming organization to position itself for the future. Now with the acquisition of Activision-Blizzard, Xbox has become a gaming powerhouse, with a vast platform of Xbox consoles and cloud, PC gaming, mobile titles, and subscription services. Even when you ignore the millions of Xbox Game Pass subscribers, Microsoft still counts various other subscription service gaming businesses in that realm, ranging from Fallout 1st to Minecraft Realms and World of Warcraft.
The complexity of the Xbox business is undoubtedly a huge challenge, but the firm faces equally huge opportunities. To that end, Sarah Bond recently sent out an email to rally her troops, while also sharing some interesting news in the process. Microsoft has confirmed to us that the correspondence is genuine.
“It's been almost six months since we came together as an organization. Our collective accomplishments in that time frame have been tremendous. Everyone should feel incredibly proud of what we've accomplished and excited about the opportunities ahead. “I should be excited.” Sara said, “We're moving full speed ahead on our next generation of hardware, focused on making the biggest technological leap we've made in a generation.”
Sarah also touched on Microsoft's innovations in gaming AI, which is said to be a big part of Microsoft's vision for the future of Xbox. We were recently told that departing XemTech head and AI innovator Karim Choudhary was known for putting players and developers first within the organization. It seems that Microsoft's thought processes will continue to influence technology, “We are innovating in gaming AI, focused on delivering player-first, developer-first value for discovery, engagement, and creator velocity.”
Ahead, Sarah explains how Microsoft is continuing its work to integrate Activision-Blizzard games and Battle.net into Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass. Microsoft brought Diablo 4 to Xbox Game Pass some time ago in collaboration with the Microsoft Store platform team on the Windows side. Bond revealed that due to Diablo hitting Game Pass, Xbox is now the #1 platform for the game. “We are integrating Activision Blizzard King titles into our services – we launched Diablo IV in Game Pass, and Xbox has quickly become the #1 platform for D4 players,” Bond reiterated some of the other games on the horizon for Xbox, “We are integrating with Battle.net in preparation for the launch of CoD: Warzone Mobile and the upcoming Hellblade II, AcceptedAnd Indiana Jones and the Great Circle,
Xbox creates a new team for game preservation and the future
Recently, preservation of games has become a growing concern, as changes to digital licensing models and online services have made it much easier for games to go offline permanently. This is a big problem in mobile gaming, where publishers and companies like Apple and Google have no problem erasing games from existence. Even major platforms like Nintendo have been known to close stores and take many games offline. Microsoft is closing parts of the Xbox 360 Store for new purchases this year. However, hundreds of the most popular Xbox backward-compatible games survived the Xbox 360 and remain on the Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S platforms. It seems that now they will survive even further.
As part of the email to her team, Sarah Bond revealed that Microsoft has now established a dedicated team to ensure the future-proofing of the existing Xbox game library against future hardware paradigm shifts, ensuring May our games remain accessible long into the future. “We've created a new team dedicated to game preservation, which is important to Xbox and all of us in the industry.” Bond said. “We are building on our strong history of providing backward compatibility to our players, and we are committed to bringing the amazing library of Xbox games forward for future generations of players to enjoy.”
We've created a new team dedicated to game preservation, which is important to Xbox and all of us in the industry. We're building on our strong history of providing backward compatibility to our players, and we're committed to bringing the amazing library of Xbox games forward for future generations of players to enjoy.
Sources tell us that Microsoft may have more to share publicly in this area around the annual Xbox Showcase, which is expected to take place on June 9, 2024 (per) the verge,
Sarah Bond also paid tribute to Karim Choudhary, who is retiring after working at Microsoft for 26 years. “Earlier this week, at the goodbye party for Karim Choudhary, our longtime leader at Xbox, we shared stories about the obstacles we have overcome and the incredible things this team has done. Did.” Sara continued, “As I was listening to those stories, I realized that Team Xbox embodies those same three qualities.”
I recently outlined some of the pain points Microsoft needs to address in a comprehensive essay I wrote last week. One of my concerns was obviously related to what might happen to our digital libraries in a universe where publishers seek growth at the expense of consoles. Not only does it seem like Microsoft has no plans when it comes to gaming hardware, but it seems like Microsoft is preparing to make sure that no matter what happens, we'll be able to maintain access to our Xbox games. Want long term. I know Microsoft is quite proud of the backward compatibility capabilities of Windows, given that you can run games from the 80s through MS-DOS with no problems. I also know that Microsoft wants to make sure that Xbox is known for the same dedication to preservation.
Sarah Bond addressed the challenges facing the wider games industry, as gaming hours become increasingly concentrated around a handful of so-called “black hole titles” like Fortnite, Roblox and Call of Duty, where players are unable to do anything new. Become reluctant to. The console market has also shrunk overall since then. peak in 2008Platform holders are wondering where the next generation of growth will come from as costs continue to rise.
“At a time when the growth of the gaming industry is slowing, our growth continues,” Sara said, emphasizing Microsoft's ability to diversify and grow. Microsoft's habit of diversification has helped it overtake Apple to regain the crown as the world's most valuable company. Xbox is now even bigger than Windows – a fact that seemed impossible ten years ago. Big challenges remain, but like I said, there are also big opportunities emerging.
