Not across all of Xbox, based on the evidence currently available. Windows Central reported on October 6, 2026, that Xbox leader Asha Sharma told an internal town hall the business had started to return to growth after an all-time low. The outlet later clarified that the chart she discussed referred to first-party growth—games Xbox owns and publishes—not the entire Xbox business.
What did Asha Sharma say?
In its October 6 report, Windows Central said Sharma described growth as “more than 2 to 3 times what we were” and said Xbox had begun to recover after an all-time low. The report was based on a town-hall transcript that Windows Central said had been shared with it and verified by trusted sources. It is a report of an internal meeting, not a publicly released Xbox earnings statement or transcript.
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Windows Central updated its report to clarify the scope: the chart Sharma was discussing concerned first-party growth. That means the reported improvement relates to Xbox-owned and published games. It should not be presented as proof that Xbox console sales, Game Pass, player engagement, Microsoft Gaming revenue, or every other part of the business has returned to growth. Windows Central’s October 6 report
How the October remarks relate to Xbox’s 2027 target
The October report follows a separate forecast Sharma made in July. In an employee message published by Xbox Wire on July 6, she said the business was unhealthy, that Game Pass, multiplatform strategy and a broader content portfolio had not grown at the expected pace, and that the core business had weakened. She said Xbox would return to growth in 2027. Xbox Wire’s July 6 employee message
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On July 29, Sharma said that more than 200 million new players had come to Xbox and its games during FY26, but the business had not grown with that audience. She expected Xbox to return to growth by the end of FY27, according to Windows Central’s July 31 report. The public report does not make the meaning or scope of “players” clear. Windows Central’s July 31 report
Those statements describe different things: July set a management target for the business by the end of FY27, while the October town-hall report described an early improvement in first-party growth. Neither statement, by itself, establishes that Xbox as a whole has already met its growth target.
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What the reported numbers do—and do not—show
| Reported claim | What can be concluded | What is not disclosed |
|---|---|---|
| First-party growth was “more than 2 to 3 times what we were,” as reported from Sharma’s October 2026 town-hall remarks. | The chart was about first-party growth, according to Windows Central’s clarification. | The public report does not show the chart or define the metric, baseline, or comparison period. |
| Positive Xbox brand sentiment rose 30% over the prior year, as reported from Sharma’s remarks. | This is a figure attributed to Sharma in the town-hall coverage. | The report does not specify a survey vendor, sample, question wording, geography, or methodology. It is not an independently verified poll result. |
| More than 200 million new players came to Xbox and its games in FY26, according to Sharma’s July remarks quoted by Windows Central. | Sharma said the business did not grow with that audience. | The public statement does not clearly define “players” or the scope of the figure. |
Insider Gaming also summarized the October claims, but its report cited Windows Central as the transcript source. It therefore offers another account of the coverage, not separate verification of the underlying chart. Insider Gaming’s October summary
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“Xbox growth” can refer to several different measures: games published by Xbox, console hardware, subscriptions, revenue, or the wider Microsoft Gaming business. A rise in one area does not automatically establish a rise in the others. In this case, the only specific scope attached to the October growth chart in the public reporting is first-party growth.
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- SHARE BUTTON: Seamlessly capture and share content such as screenshots, recordings, and more with the new Share button.
- VERSATILE CONNECTIVITY — Connect via USB-C for plug-and-play on console and PC, or quickly pair and switch between supported devices with XBOX Wireless and Bluetooth support.
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Sharma’s July message also described a business under pressure. She said margins were three to ten times lower than comparable platform and publishing businesses, and that a typical year saw 64 cents lost per dollar invested in the studio portfolio. Those were company statements in her restructuring rationale; the message did not name the comparators or provide a calculation methodology. It also announced approximately 3,200 planned team reductions throughout FY27, including approximately 1,600 immediately. Xbox Wire’s July message
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What to watch for next
- Scope: Look for whether future figures concern first-party games or the broader Xbox and Microsoft Gaming businesses.
- Measurement: A published chart, defined metric, comparison period, and baseline would make the “2 to 3 times” statement easier to interpret.
- Financial results: Company-wide growth needs to be assessed through separately reported financial results, not inferred from an internal chart about first-party growth.
- FY27 target: Sharma’s July forecast was a return to growth by the end of FY27; the October report did not say that the overall target had already been achieved.
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