The Xbox Doomsday! or maybe not.

A graphics with XBOX logo and stocks (Logan Budlong / The Puma Prensa)

By Logan Budlong, staff writer

This year marks a significant change for Xbox, and the wider gaming community as a whole. From prices rising across the board for their consoles, to the Microsoft gaming (Xbox) CEO resigning, change is coming to the company, and only time will tell if it's a good change.

As of Feb 23, 2026, Phil Spencer, former CEO of Microsoft gaming, retired after 40 years of working for Microsoft. In light of his retirement, a new CEO was appointed, this being the former president of Microsoft’s CoreAI, Asha Sharma. 

This change sparked significant worry from the gaming community, as there is a fear that the new CEO may start pushing for more AI in Microsoft's games.

Asha Sharma has spoken out about this, claiming that, despite her history with the company, AI would not be pushed on the consumer more than it already has been.

Along with concerns of an increase in AI, there have been numerous price increases for Xbox software across the board: the Xbox Series X has undergone a price increase of $100 from $500 to $600, and the Series X 2TB  was subject to a massive $200 increase now costing $700.

These increases have caused many fans of Xbox to worry that the company is going to start moving away from the production of consoles, but this is untrue, as management has come out and confirmed production would continue with the next major console, code-named Project Helix by Xbox, set to release in 2027.

Overall, while the change in leadership marks a shift for Xbox, the company’s core identity will likely remain intact, and games and consoles alike will continue to be released as the use of AI will remain minimal.