Microsoft boss Nadella vows to “always” invest in video games following Xbox leadership change

The CEO of Microsoft, Satya Nadella, has committed to “always” invest in its video games business.

Speaking at an internal Q&A with new Xbox chief Asha Sharma – obtained by Windows Central – the executive said that the company is “long on gaming” but is open to seeing where it can “extend” this part of its business outside of traditional areas. Nadella also said that Xbox has to be “best-in-class” in this area.

The CEO also described video games as being one of its “main identities” as a company, along with being a platform, developer and ‘knowledge worker’ firm. Nadella pointed to the impact that video games have had on Microsoft and the broader technology sector in areas such as cloud, the Windows operating system and GPU-based servers.

“The trickle from that excellence to the rest of the company becomes straightforward,” Nadella said.

“I joke with [Nvidia CEO] Jensen Huang, if it wasn’t for gaming [Nvidia] wouldn’t exist. Think about it, without DirectX, I don’t think the entire GPU revolution, or the acceleration, would’ve happened.”

“That’s why I’m long on it. Phil [Spencer, former Xbox chief], he’s always talked to me about how gaming is the largest entertainment category – what is gaming in its most expansive form going forward? This doesn’t mean we walk away from people are doing today – when we think about a AAA game on a console. The question is about where else can we go to extend that. For me, we’re long on gaming. We’ll continue to invest, and we’ll always do so. It’s up to this team to show an excellence in execution, and creativity. Software always carries risk, but this is software with lots of creation risk. It’s way different. But yet, we have to be the best-in-class at it.”

Last month, Microsoft announced that Xbox chief Phil Spencer and president Sarah Bond would be leaving the company. Stepping into the top job was Asha Sharma, who takes on the position of Microsoft Gaming CEO and EVP. She comes into the role after spending almost two years as the company’s president of CoreAI.

Since her appointment, Sharma has addressed concerns from consumers and members of the industry alike about her artificial intelligence background, especially at a time where Microsoft is reportedly pushing for its workforce to use the technology more and more. The new games chief has said she has “no tolerance for bad AI”, later adding that Xbox is facing “no pressure” to use the technology.

Sharma also recently announced that the next generation of Xbox hardware is codenamed Project Helix and will also play PC games, something that Microsoft has previously hinted at.