[STEAM] 'The Plan's the Plan Until It's Not the Plan' — Will the New Xbox Boss Reverse Recent Strategic Decisions, Including Ditching Exclusive Games?

[Steam 0]

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Now Xbox has a new boss, what happens next? In a new interview, Asha Sharma, a

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

executive who previously oversaw some of the firm's AI initiatives, kept things frustratingly vague, but did indicate that nothing is off the table when it comes to big decisions about recent controversial policies.

Last week,

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

sent shockwaves throughout the video game industry when

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

, with Sharma in place as new CEO of its gaming business. Fans are split, with some choosing to believe in the promised "return to Xbox," others expressing concern about the future of

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

's gaming business.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.

One of the big questions fans have for Sharma is whether

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

will reverse some of its recent policies, many of which have alienated the core Xbox fanbase. Fans have criticized

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

for leaving Xbox game exclusivity behind in favor of a multiplatform approach that has seen the company’s biggest brands —

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

— make the jump to PlayStation. Why buy an Xbox now, when all Xbox games come out on everything?

In a new interview with

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

, Sharma avoided specifics when asked about the future and recent strategic decisions, only offering the cryptic "the plan's the plan until it's not the plan."

Here’s the quote in full:

"Right now, I need to learn, candidly. About the 'why' of these decisions, what we were optimizing for, and what the data says about the Xbox strategy today. That's the honest answer. I'm looking at lifetime value, not just what happened in a previous moment, or in short term efficiencies and things like that. The plan's the plan until it's not the plan."

What does that mean? It’s hard to tell. It feels like a holding statement, the kind of thing you might say when you don’t want to commit to anything either way. But it’s hard to see

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

all of a sudden pulling out of multiplatform game releases, especially when its studios have put so much effort into making

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

's policy a reality, and in some cases seen great success on the likes of PlayStation. Halo is coming to PlayStation this year, and that’s unlikely to change.

Will things change further down the line? Could

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

start releasing exclusives again, particularly in the context of the upcoming next Xbox? All eyes are now on Asha Sharma to find out.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

. There isn't a great deal of time to sort everything out before the next crucial juncture in Xbox history.

In the shorter term,

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

, explaining that her account had been shared among others at home.

IGN has much more on Sharma's arrival and the departure of Spencer, including the many

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

,

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

, and

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at *****@*****.tld.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up