She expects massive growth in daily active users within four years, which doesn’t seem like an easy task.
Following Microsoft’s first-quarter 2026 financial report, which noted another quarterly decline for the Xbox division and, most importantly, documented CEO Satya Nadella’s directive that Xbox return to a growth trajectory in the next fiscal year, Asha Sharma, the CEO of Xbox, issued another internal memo. It was not made public, but it nevertheless leaked through The Verge. The memo outlines four key principles: core, meaning strengthening the platform with the console leading the way; content, meaning developing outstanding games into global franchises; creation, meaning making Minecraft the world’s leading creative platform; and connection, meaning expanding the worlds loved by fans.
The third point is undoubtedly the biggest surprise. Xbox appears to be trying to compete with Roblox by using Minecraft. However, this will be no easy task. Roblox reported a 36% increase in revenue, reaching $1.5 billion, as well as a 10% rise in average daily active users, reaching 123 million thanks to growth in Japan and India. Although we lack official data on Minecraft, independent statistical sources estimate that Microsoft’s family-friendly franchise has, at best, only half the user base of Roblox.
However, these four guiding principles are rather vague. Sharma outlined three phases of expansion for Xbox. The first phase is to return to a growth trajectory in fiscal year 2027 under Nadella’s guidance. The second phase is to integrate the four principles and the roadmap into business units that will generate significant player value and revenue growth in fiscal years 2028 and 2029. The third phase is to reach 500 million daily active players by 2030, driven by double-digit growth in player numbers and engagement, as well as industry-leading margins. This is still a long way off.
According to Sharma, the Xbox ecosystem currently has more than 100 million daily active users, over 500 million monthly active users, and nearly one billion annual active users. Therefore, within four years, Xbox will somehow need to convert its monthly active users into daily active users. Sharma revealed that three franchises generate more than $1 billion annually. Two of these franchises are undoubtedly Call of Duty from Activision and Candy Crush from King. The third franchise is likely Blizzard’s Warcraft, primarily due to World of Warcraft and Hearthstone.
Source: WCCFTech, The Verge, GamesIndustry.biz
